BEYOND THE BORDERS

Around the world in 14 days!


View from our hotel room

Three months after our first post... God gave us an opportunity to go on a mission trip to Poland through the International Mission Board as volunteer counselors to the missionaries in central and eastern Europe for their annual general meeting (AGM) from June 23rd through July 1st. We had a wonderful time meeting the missionaries, hearing their stories, and being amazed at all that God is doing in and through them! There were about 400 missionaries and their 200 children and 100 volunteers (from counselors to musicians, preachers/speakers, childcare workers, nurses, sales reps, etc.) in a huge resort hotel that sleeps 1200 with such wonderful amenities as indoor water park, several outdoor pools, boutiques, massages, saunas, horseback riding, boating, walking trails, and much more! It was a hectic week, but we were able to find some time to relax by walking into town, doing a little shopping and visiting with the missionaries.


We stayed on a river in Mikolajki and enjoyed the numerous marinas.


Flat Stanley, Glenn and Cile on the bridge leading into town.

A friend of ours from West Cobb Baptist Church and North Cobb Christian School, Adam Doughty, asked me to take his buddy, Flat Stanley, on the trip with us and to take pictures of Flat Stanley as he travels with us. (If you don't know about Flat Stanley, ask any elementary school teacher or children's librarian!)


One of the many, many jewelry stores selling mostly orange, yellow and green amber.

This trip was made possible by the generosity of West Cobb Baptist Church (most notably, by Jack and Kristy Madden and Marie Kiser who provided sky miles), and other friends and family members. We are soooooo thankful for their help in making this trip a reality and are impatiently waiting to see how God uses this experience in guiding us into the next steps of our journey with Him.

Before leaving the U.S.....
Our pastor, Dr. Ken Williams, said we couldn't go to Poland and get this close to our daughter and son-in-law, Kari and Jonathan Masson, who live in Lyon, France without taking a side trip to see them. Our pastor is a wise man and we always try to do what he says, so, we left Poland on Saturday, July 1 and are visiting with them for a week. The four of us will go to Paris tomorrow (July 6) to spend two days sightseeing before returning to the U.S. on Saturday, July 8. (Kari has lived in France now for one and a half years and has not been to Paris yet!)


Enjoying the beautiful Parc de la Tete d'Or.


Which glasses do think look the best? These?


Or these?

Both Cile and Kari got new glasses while in Lyon. As a French resident with socialist benefits, Kari's glasses cost her less than $20 (same frames, new lenses, and eye doctor appointment). Cile got two new pairs of glasses (but no eye exam) for about $400 dollars. Cheaper than in the U.S., and ready in one day! (Although, not as cheap as for Kari as a "temporary Frenchie".) In the two pictures above, I swapped glasses with Kari to see how I'd look with dark, horn rimmed glasses just for a joke. It was funny, but not really! (Next time you're in Lyon and need glasses, go see Mickael GUIRONNET at Lynx Optique at 94 Grande Rue, OULLINS.)


Kari and Jonathan on the bridge that leads to their neighborhood.


Trekking across town in search of a string for Kari's strumstick.

Kari asked us to bring her a strumstick just like her Dad's, so after making a carrying case for it and carefully transporting it to Poland and then to Lyon, I accidentally broke a string during the last leg of our trip to Lyon! We've been to the guitar string store twice and Glenn is trying to restring and tune her strumstick. I think he is enjoying playing with it!


We rented bikes and rode in the park for 1 1/2 hours at night

We have had a wonderful week running errands across town, walking in the neighborhood and across Lyon, taking the metro and buses, eating baguettes and cheese, riding bikes and getting caught up on news since our last visit in April. Tonight we are going out for dinner with Kari and Jonathan's friends, Ken and Gabi Ziegler, who just returned from the U.S. earlier today where they were married (two weeks ago by Glenn) and have been honeymooning.

We hope to do better with our blog in the near future. Check us out again in about two weeks when we hope to have an update. Until then, au revoir!