Flexibility! (...and some dates for your diary!)

Although I like to say that I am a pretty flexible guy, the truth is that I like to  know what the plan is! The last couple of months, since we arrived back from the States, has seen us having to be pretty flexible with our plans!

We had originally planned on staying in Blair Atholl, up in the Scottish Highlands, for our time in the UK, but after loosing Heather's dad, we felt staying closer to her mum would be the right thing to do. We had to change around some of our original plans, but in reality it has meant we have been much better placed for dealing with the logistics of the many meetings, medicals and vaccinations we need before we all go to Africa.

We have also had a few more churches interested in what we are doing than we are used to for our time back in Scotland. Normally we are only back in the UK for 3 weeks or there abouts. That works well for being able to visit the 3 churches who we have been partnered with since we started in Ohio. (3 weeks means 3 weekends!!) This time home however, we are / have been sharing at 9 different churches! It makes for a busy schedule; in January we are speaking at a different church every Sunday, and at two mid week meetings, as well as trying to catch up with as many friends around the country as we can! It has been great to be able to share our story again though. We have had the pleasure of sharing with people who have never heard of MAF or what we are doing before. We have also shared with people who have been following our news since the beginning of our time with MAF, but who have never heard the whole story of how we ended up where we are now! Even though I can't imagine ever putting "Public Speaking" on my list of things-I-do-for-fun, I am becoming more comfortable with it, and am always amazed at how much encouragement comes from it. All that said, we double booked ourselves last Sunday, and caused a bit of confusion for some people - if you had to change your plans because of our mistake we are sorry!

Queen's view, Loch Tummel - travelling around the country has it's bonuses!

Future Plans
We are still waiting for any news of the approval of my work permit. We can't book flights until the permit is in place, and we had hoped that by mid to late January, we would have tickets booked and dates set for travelling to Uganda. If there is anything we have learned over the last few months though, it is that God's timing is perfect, and we are sure that it will all work out. In the meantime we are adjusting our plans to match the situation. There are a few factors at play, including limited housing that will be available to MAF on our planned arrival date and the kids schooling (and whether they should stick to just 2 continents in one school year!). Taking all this into consideration, we are now planning on me travelling to Uganda myself when the work permit comes through, and then Heather and the kids will follow on once the school's finish for the summer. Maybe not a perfect solution, but probably best considering everything that is happening in our lives just now.

Even though we don't have a definite date for leaving, we have a little send off get together booked for early February. Andy and Kevin at the MAF-Scotland office have been a great support over the years and we appreciate Andy sorting everything out for a send-off / commisioning / social evening at the Costa Coffee shop in Cumbernauld's Antonine Shopping Centre before we leave for Africa. We would love to see as many of you as possible on the evening! Please put the following info on your calender!
Location:   Costa Coffee, Tryst Rd / Antonine Centre, Cumbernauld. (Just beside Tesco's!)
Date:   11th February 2014
Time:   7pm - 9pm

If you stay a little bit further north, we are also planning on having an evening in Pitlochry on 12th February, as an opportunity to say good bye to our friends there. It will most likely be an informal get together with coffee, tea and lots of opportunity to chat, but we haven't ironed out all the details yet - watch this space and we will update the blog when our plans are a bit more solid!

Having learned from last week's faux pas, here is an up to date list of where we will be for the next few weeks. It would be great to see you if you can make it!!

26th January - Crown Terrace Baptist Church - morning service 11am
29th January - Holyrood Abbey, Edinburgh - midweek prayer meeting 7pm
11th February - Costa Coffee, Cumbernauld - 7pm - 9pm
12th February - Pitlochry - Details tbc
16th February - Dunoon Baptist Church - morning service 11am