The next step...

So here we are, ready to embark on our first, really "official" ministry trip with GEM. The way this trip came about is rather remarkable.

Beth and I had it in our heads that, since we now had a new direction in our ministry and we were going to be able to begin sooner than expected, we wondered if it would be possible to attend GEM's Annual Conference (AC). This gathering of all the missionaries and staff persons in Europe is a time of teaching, fellowship, encouragement and vision casting. This year it takes place in Sopron Hungary.

Since we are still only "appointees" (in our fundraising phase) and not yet commissioned as full-time missionaries, we humbly asked our field director if it would be possible to attend AC this year. His response was, in essence, "Well as a matter of fact, I was just yesterday speaking with Durand Robinson (who oversees the technical aspects of the conference). He won't be able to attend this year and wondered if you might be available to go and run sound. I have also heard from Craig Collier, the conference director, and he is also needing help with leading worship, so maybe the scope of opportunity is even wider." We also talked about maybe setting up an extended trip to Ireland following AC. Phil's only reservation was that August is the time when most Irish are on holiday and he felt that it would be better to wait until closer to September. Hmmm.

I took it upon myself to contact Craig, and in our conversation, he asked if Beth and I would be willing to lead/coordinate worship for the entire conference! Silly question, duh! But that still left nobody to run sound. This was Thursday morning (the date is unimportant).

I immediately emailed my brother, Dennis who lives and works in Budapest, Hungary to see if he would be around the week following conference, so that we could visit him in Buda, which we have not been able to do since he moved there 5 years ago. He said, "We'll be here. Come on!" (The "we" is him and his girlfriend, Judit, who is a native Hungarian.) The other advantage to this is that it fills another week to get our start time in Ireland closer to September. Please don't misunderstand, our time in Buda is NOT filler. Dennis and I have only had about 5 days together in the past 7 years. This is important time!

Friday evening, Molly and I were eating out together and Molly said, "So, will I be able to go to Hungary with you and Mom?" I told her that if we could work out the financial aspect of it that we would love to have her come with us. She has wanted to visit Hungary since Dennis moved there. Since she will be starting her fall semester at University of West Florida at the end of August, she wouldn't be able to go to Ireland with us on this trip.

In the midst of our conversation about Hungary, I got my foot in good position to slip right into my mouth and said, "How would you like to run sound for us at conference?" She loved the idea. I did, too, because not only would it give her something to do that week, her expenses could come out of our expense account! So now I had to contact Craig about this, not knowing at all whether he would go for it or not. His response was swift, to the point and unmistakable.

"That would be such an answer to prayer! Are you sure?" Once again, silly question, duh.

So a week from tomorrow, we set out for Sopron (pronounced show-prone) for a week at AC, a week with Dennis and Judit (pronounced "You-dit", as in "You-dit what? You-dit not!") and two-and-a-half weeks in Ireland to return to the States September 11. That's right, 9/11. We figure it's either the worst day of the year to travel or the best. Haven't decided which.

Our time in Ireland will be spent meeting with pastors, worship leaders and others, learning about their needs and how our ministry can best benefit them. We also have some worship workshops set up with worship bands in several local fellowships and hope for a couple of other events to come together. We plan to be based in Dublin and visit Shannon, Cork, Roscrae and several other places to be determined as our plans solidify over the next few weeks.

We will be posting often while in Europe, so check back. Our website should be launched this week and will also have much info during our trip.

The adventure continues...