Still Full Steam Ahead

A dear friend, Kelly, called us yesterday in light of the recent bombings in the Middle East. She wanted to know if that would change our plans to move overseas this September.

As far as it depends on us, our plans have not changed. As you can see by the photo above, we have started packing our boxes already.

As you know, we are not close to the fighting at all. We are also not strangers to the idea of moving overseas on the heels of major world events.

In August of 1991, as David was preparing to move to the then-USSR, he turned on the TV around 2 am to watch tanks roll into Red Square as part of the August Coup (left photo by ITAR-TESS). When he moved to Moscow shortly thereafter, he was a front row witness to the fall of Communism in the Soviet Union. Only 2 years later (August 1993), he watched as the Russian White House was bombed by tanks.

When I moved to Central Asia in the fall of 1998, the U.S. had begun its preemptive missile strikes into Afghanistan and Bin Laden had just declared a jihad against all Americans (civilian and military). I lived in a country north of Aghanistan.

Five years later, when we led a summer team to Central Asia (with 10-month old Verity in tow), the U.S. had just invaded Iraq. The numbers of students applying to go overseas that summer were lower than usual and one reason may be that their parents were not comfortable with the idea of their children flying overseas in light of world events.

We are still moving. If plans change, we will definitely let you know. For now, please continue to pray for us! We are walking by faith, not by sight. And please remember to pray for a rapid and peaceful solution for the fighting in the Middle East.