Washington DC

Einar's company's convention was in Washington DC this year, so that is where we were from June 11-17.

As usual, we were in a wonderful Marriott Hotel, and had great meals and were able to connect with people Einar knew and people we'd both met previously.

Mostly, though, it was a good time for Einar & I to reconnect and have time together after my Ukraine Trip.

While he was in sessions the first day, I drove up to the Material Resource warehouse in Ephrata, Pennsylvania for 2 reasons. I needed to get my pic's from the Ukraine trip (I didn't have nearly all of them since my disks were blank when I got home) and I really wanted to take the opportunity to reconnect with Rudi and Mary, who were both in Ukraine as well. I also managed to see Lucinda - who I'd met in Mississippi on our MDS trip earlier. So it was a very worthwhile trip.

The rest of the weekend, whenever Einar was in sessions, I was able to work on my pictures and get them sorted.

We had 2 meals supplied each day, but there were wonderful restaurants nearby and we had great Mediteranean food, Thai food, and on Father's Day, we went out for Afghan food. That was a new experience for us, and well worth it.

Vienna

On our way home, we spent an evening and night in Vienna. Wilf's friends Jean & Gunther were perfect guides to the city, and we saw a few highlights as well as having dinner in a delightful setting.

There were a lot of buskers in the city center and one of them played glasses in a way I've never seen or heard before. I tried to post the video, but it was too large a file - maybe one of my techie friends can tell me how to post it elsewhere and add a link.

More Ukraine

Our trip has a very distinct dividing line - Before Sunday afternoon, and After Sunday Afternoon. We had such a good Sunday morning - sharing in the morning service at the Baptist Church in Yalta; singing "How Great Thou Art" for them with everyone joining in the chorus; taking communion with the rest of the congregation; and being greeted very warmly.

The rest of Sunday is a bit of a blur...or perhaps just something I don't even want to think about. Harry's death, and the subsequent shock and blur of details that needed looking after... times of prayer, crying, and sharing... Not knowing what to think or do... And eventually realizing we had to go on; we had to finish, despite the huge hole in our team.

I can't say that things ever went back to 'normal' but we did attempt to finish our trip following the schedule set out for us. There continued to be moments of tears, shock, sharing, and a lot of praying together - right to the end. But we found reasons for fun and laughter in the midst of it all.


The church in Yalta and the bishop Benjamin were an incredible source of strength for us at this time.

Hard times

In my last blog I mentioned I had expected more hardships on this trip. I was talking about food, lodging, etc. The hardships that have come our way are NOT in that category.

We were enjoying our Sunday afternoon at the beach. Harry was especially eager to swim in the Black Sea, and didn't even test the water before he ran in for his swim. We all were enjoying his eagerness and have a number of pictures of him enjoying the water.

Suddenly our trip was changed permanently. Harry appeared to have a heart attack in the water, and despite efforts by our own team, the medics, etc, he was gone.

I will add more at another time, but for now I'll just ask for you to pray for us, and for Harry's family in Manitoba.

Thanks.