The First Mango in Johnson City

We are having some fun with one of our favorite Asian fruits. After reading our previous blog, our missionary friends from Johnson City, Dan and Cara Wood,  whom we  knew in the Philippines in the 90's, had a surprise for us when they met us at the airport. Tucked away in the back of the van they have taken care of for us when we've been overseas was a care package for the kitchen - and you guessed it; a mango! On top of that, our good friends Russ and Barb Nelson had arranged for us to stay in their neighbor's house next door and, surprise surprise - the pantry shelves and refrigerator were packed with goodies. Honestly, our departure from Thailand was so chaotic that we had not thought a lot about our upcoming 14 day quarantine; what we would need and what that would mean to those around us. To make a long and fun story shorter, we are 3 days short of finishing up our quarantine, with health, joy and gratitude to God and others for our safe arrival home. 

What's next? As you can imagine the Covid-19 virus has created stresses in the mission community overseas - just as it has here. We are in discussions with mission leadership as how best to address the growing needs of the cross cultural workers and how we might be of help as we establish our 'base' in Johnson City, TN. We have already fielded a number of Zoom and Skype video calls as pressures ramp up back in Asia. 

Prayer Requests: 

1. Pray for Heather and Krista as they hunker down in Glasgow and Atlanta. 
2. Pray for us as we divide our time between getting moved into our condo and fielding ongoing needs on the mission field. 
3.  Pray for Alberta as we process the possibility of being involved in medical work during this present crisis. 

Serving Christ with You, Steve and Alberta