Feet on the ground

How wonderful to be guests in our former home. Our daughter-in-love Melissa must have scrubbed her knuckles raw. I sure can't remember our house (another place at the time) being this clean when our kids were little. And our son clipped and trimmed and cleaned so the yard looks great.

Of course, the most fun is the welcome from our grandkids. I haven't seen them for 8.5 months. (W saw them in October when he was working on a national committee.) Miss K is now a verbal 3-year-old and her little brother is a mini moving track-hoe. We enjoy their antics and their hugs and kisses.

Waiting for our airport pick-up

Sunday, March 15, 2015
After a 9-hour stopover in Korea, the flight is uneventful and we encounter no problems entering the US. Our suitcases are among the first off the plane.

Timothy picks us up and whisks us to his place. The rest of the tribe shows up shortly after. My head goes round and round with noisy reunions, good food and beautiful tulips - thanks to d-in-love Rebekah, and travel lag. (It is a dear friend's birthday but I actually don't coordinate my brain and intentions about calling her until Tuesday.) We call our parents and enjoy our children, nephew, and the grands.

One of the weirdest sensations is the cold drizzle on our hands and face. Seattle greets us with showers and clouds. We haven't missed that part of this wonderful city. The air feels cool and fresh. The streets look empty and the neighborhood is so tidy.

W has erupted in his typical "out of routine and pressure's off" cold. In the evening we drive to a drugstore for medicine and a hot water bottle.

Oh oh. I've left my PJs at home in Bandung. Find clean trousers and a long-sleeved t-shirt and get to bed. I pop in earplugs. Grandparents have only good obligations, to love and spoil the grandkids. We don't have to wake up at night with them. Poor Levi is up during the wee hours, crying for his parents while we sleep on.

Monday
W is headed to a conferral in Springfield, leaving later tonight. So we get as much done as we can, driving into the city for a breakfast meeting at Citizen Coffee. It's encouraging to get Bill's counsel and hear the process of urban church life in Seattle. My caramelized onion, avocado, apple, and goat cheese crepes are amazing. What big portions even in this "healthy" restaurant. On the way back, we drop by a Walmart for PJs (none available with long sleeves) and shampoo ... and we skip lunch.

W has afternoon coffee with a university friend while I drive to a discount store for PJs. I'm staggered by the number of decorative items in the shop. The shelves seem empty after the chaos of Bandung shops and the aisles devoid of shopping crowds. At the checkout I discover I haven't brought my money; I took it from my tote and got distracted. It never made it into my purse. Sigh. The clerk tapes my business card on the bags and home I go. It's amazing how fast traffic is moving as I'm driving (!!! I'm driving !!! all by myself and feeling relaxed). What a treat.

Melissa has cooked dinner so granddaughter Miss K and I whistle through our food and then hop back in the car. At the store, she chooses PlayDough over a puzzle book and I pay for my purchases.

W heads out about 9pm and I sort through storage bins for clothing, a fluffy duvet, and toiletries before bed at about 11.

Tuesday
Of course I'm wide awake at 3am and can't get back to sleep. The WPPRs - my accountability group - heads for the Lyon's Den in Bothell at 9am. Willy buys my breakfast sandwich and tea and we begin to catch up.

We four began to meet in the fall of 1993. We've shaped each other in so many ways, brainstorming, considering life and consequences, and praying together over our families and our activities. This past year, before W and I moved to Indonesia, one of the group relocated to California. She's been back on family business and she extends her trip until tomorrow so we can meet. How special to have this time together! It's as though we haven't been apart.

They surprise me with an early birthday cake and lovely gift. I hand over a silk scarf and a wooden spoon to each. Between beauty and cooking, they will remember to pray for us!

It's definitely nap-time when I get home at 2. The phone rings after a half-hour: a political solicitation. Ugh. But I finally remember to call my friend for her birthday. (Remembering at 10pm hasn't been helpful the past two days!) We're excited about meeting later this week.

A lot of things are still in the basement. We had no idea what we would need in Indonesia, so we packed bedding and clothes into a few plastic storage boxes and left household items in the suite. It takes me a scant half-hour to locate what I want to take home = some of my paintings, cooking pots that were a wedding gift (and don't work on the induction burners downstairs), and a tea cup and saucer. I'll wait to see how much room we have in our luggage: there's no sense in pulling out what we have to put back.

And then it's off to supper at Très Hermanos with several Northwest University couples. What a treat to see their faces. But the food portions! I only manage to eat two of my eight pieces of quesadilla.  From afar, W regrets missing the dinner. I'm too distracted by good company to take pictures.

Just before 2am Wednesday, I start feeling sleepy. Little Levi starts crying upstairs. Poor mama and dad! Let's all try to sleep through the rest of the night.  I have a morning appointment. Time to pop in my earplugs.

Korean pit stop

A pit stop is where you refresh your energy to keep going. That's what Korea is for us. Thank you for your prayers for safe travels!

A beautiful sunrise as we land in Korea

When W and I land in Incheon, Korea, we see a sign for free tours. Really? You can leave the airport, explore town, and get back on the plane without hassle? Ok, let's try it. Pictures tell the tale.

First, we are whisked through some back halls and signed into the country. "I hate long lines," says the gal leading us. We signs our temporary entry papers and she points us toward the tour desk (free tours hosted by the airport). 

We sign up for a 1-hour trip to a temple. The C12 Buddhist temple is a 15-minute bus ride from the airport. "35% of Koreans are Protestant. 17% are Catholic. But this is a Buddhist site and the materials used are natural: bronze, wood, clay, steel, and stone," the guide explains.

Ongoing construction in front of a manmade carving

Along the path, a glass case encloses altar candles, lit in front of a tall white statue of a Buddha. "To express the compassion of the universe, Koreans offer incense, rice flour, candles, and flowers," says our guide. I'm struck by the prophet Isaiah's incredulity that anyone would pray to something their own hands have made. Who would think of prayer to a stone or piece of wood or clay that does not move, listen, or respond? (Read the scripture passage below.) 

"We use 5 colors of paints," continues the guide. "White, black, red, blue, and yellow. Our greens are a combination of our other colors. This big bell (pointing to an iron bell on a stand) is rung 33 times in the morning and 28 times at night. We say that souls go to hell or heaven after death. This soul travel takes 39 days. When the monk rings the bells, we hope the dead person will hear the sound and gain salvation to slip into heaven."

Beautiful folk paintings on the Buddhist temple

Everywhere we go, people explain their hopes for salvation. No one wants to end up in hell. The Christian confidence that Christ has purchased our salvation resonates with me. Today, it sounds so much more logical than praying to a carved statue in hopes of ending up in a good afterlife ... after 39 days of soul travels. What do you think?

A cat snoozes on a mat in front of the bronze altar

We have an hour between tours. We eat bibimbap and sweet rice noodle dish for breakfast. It has a rich warm flavor. Now we stink of kimchee (garlic).

Soon we're back at the tour desk, lining up to board another bus. Joy is an amazing tour guide and makes the 3 1/2 hours lots of fun. "The port of Inchon has longest bridge of Korea: it takes us 22 km from the airport to the Incheon mainland. The toll for the bridge is $12 each way. Gas costs $1.50 late or $6 gallon. Samsung and LG are the main electronics made in Korea."

Miles of mud flats under a bright sky

"By the way," Joy points to the sea beside us, "the sea has just come in. The tide here is 9 meters (30 feet) high. First thing in the morning you can see the mud flats [as W and I did at 8am]. We'll have an annual Mud Festival in July."

A blond royal in Korea? I doubt it.

Joy spills out fun facts on the way to a cultural center. We learn about Korean royalty and get pictures taken in traditional court dress. We all walk around a nearby park. The plants are resting in greys and browns, and the leafless tree-trunks are quietly contemplating the end of winter. W and I climb about a hundred steps up to a viewing platform before high-tailing it back to the bus.

W poses at a table set with traditional Korean food
that would have been served to royalty

 Our final stop is a food market. 

Clean and sweet-smelling: a Korean food market

Joy points out the market specialty: fried Chicken. She advises us to push past the long lines outside (waiting for takeaway) and to eat inside. "We can't eat on the bus or it would smell bad for the next passengers." True, there's a lot of garlic in the cooking! As people climb up the steps to the second floor and more seating, we invite them to join our table. The latecomers pull another table over. 

Our nationalities are Japanese, Pilipino, Canadian, and Singaporean. It's an international feast. The chicken is amazing, too. We laugh, talk, and eat together.

While we're heading back at the airport, W and I are talking about what we'd do on a long layover the new time through Incheon. Our daughter loves Korea. With its vibrant colors, friendly people, and good food, we know why.

Read more:
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?

Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?

Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. ... Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.

With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him? As for an idol, a metalworker casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. A person too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot; they look for a skilled worker to set up an idol that will not topple.

Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 

Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (From Isaiah 40)

Prayer: Lord, we worship you as the One True God. Help us to remember that you understand us, even when we do not understand you. We rest today in your lovingkindness. Amen.

Travelers underway

Labu Siam (Chayote)

Friday, March 13, 2015

Josie comes at 9am to tutor us. Her mom, visiting for the first time, explores the yard, points out fruit ripening on the trees, and explains what it’s used for. “If I lived here, I’d never come inside,” she laughs. "It's like a fruit market." Unfortunately, much of the fruit will ripen before we return.

She goes inside with a handful of green fruit, "labu Siam." She cuts one into matchstick-sized slivers and salts it. Then she quarters the other before boiling it for 7 or 8 minutes. Oh my! Enak. 

"They're even better fried with garlic and onions," Josie says. "That hides the smell." Well, it may smell a bit musty but it's delicious.

A truck pulls in the gate as they are leaving. Tanya, who lived and worked in Bandung for years, has moved back to the States but stored some of her household things for us. Two wiry locals unload the truck and put the boxes and shelves on the porch. W cuts the packages open to find provisions for the second floor. These are needed things, including chairs, pots and pans, dishes, voltage regulators, and a bonus - a ceiling fan to stir the air in our bedroom. Thank you, Tanya! and thanks be to God for moving his stuff around.

We clean, do a few loads of laundry, and start to pack.

Exploring the backyard: what food is back there?

Saturday

Today we fly to Seattle. The pembantu Ibu A and her husband Pak E arrive at 8am. She irons a few clothes to be packed. She'll empty the freezer and fridge and share the food with her family. He pulls the paint roller out of the tray of white paint he left out overnight. ("The air is so humid that it doesn't dry out," says W.) Pak E continues his swath through the house. It takes him 2-3 days to patch and paint a bedroom so we know he’s in no hurry.

I walk Ibu A past some "accumulations of years" edging the stairs and the walls. “Please have this gone when we return, ok?” (requested in bad Indonesian). She says she will try. We’ve left money for food ($1.70/day) and she is to keep a record of time worked and money spent. We’ll see how that goes.

We didn’t pack until yesterday and I don't stress much since W takes care of travel details, but the move has tired me out. Beautiful trees, shrubs in bloom, and lush green planted terraces line the highway; I focus on anything but weaving in and out of traffic. (It's harder to be a passenger than a driver.) Bandung is "home". We will miss the people we’ve met. We say goodbye to a few neighbors and pray with the helper and her husband before we leave: blessings on them and protection on the house. I nap in the car after we leave Bandung at 11am. 

W gets anxious about arriving on time. What will traffic be like? It's actually not bad. We stop for lunch at A&W (I know, right?) before filling up with gas at a highway rest stop. In Jakarta, we run into the SuperIndo grocer for Indonesia spices and ramen for our kids. We’re at the Rempoa flat before 3. Dear friends have loaned us their car and driver so we can park our car at the house. Both the driver and W are happy to get underway on the ring road before rush hour. There is minimal traffic even at the toll stations. We’re at the airport by 5.

“Snag some carts, ok?” W pulls the suitcases out of the car. Among our full complement of luggage, some are empty. To move here last year, we crammed 6 suitcases full of clothing, basic gear, and other necessities. Now we have a better idea of what we need. We gave away or sold most of our household in Seattle but packed up a few things that we weren’t sure we could find in Indonesia. W has a list of things like plumbing supplies (drain plugs, connectors for the washing machine – that we should be able to get here, but the shops are always kurang=out of stock.) I want to bring a sofa cover out of storage. The main thing is to make a habitable base from which to care for others.

Ready to cook for company
Glad we brought old Tupperware along!

We can't sign in for our tickets yet. The attendant tells us the Korean Air counter opens at 7. We arrange our suitcases on two baggage carts so we can sit on them. (The one bench is taken). I ask if W feels less stressed since we are here early. Very early.

“Yes,” he says and sets his phone alarm so he can head for the line when it opens in 2 hours. He walks and explores the airport. I sit with the luggage. But then W finds a foot massage place @$7 (including tip). He stands outside, computer in hand. After a painful half-hour, my feet and shoulders feel better and the airline counter queue is open. I’m almost accustomed to airport waits after all these years. Not quite, but almost.

W found a deal on the tickets of course. Return tickets were $80 and a lot of air miles. The total trip lasts about 40 hours so sleeping along the way is a must. We feel excited about seeing our parents, kids, and grandkids on the other end, even though W flies out to a committee meeting the next day. I have a day to decompress before my calendar lights up. Prayers appreciated that we can be a blessing along the way.

Coffee dreams and settling in

Thursday, March 12
"Hope it's a wonderful day, Norm." It's my 2nd brother's birthday. We'll try to get to him in the morning (our tomorrow) if we don't reach him today. The strange offset of time makes calling a challenge.

A guava tree by the porch, alive with fruit bats at night

The sun's out and company's coming for lunch. Ibu A is cooking. She ignored my recipe and is doing her own thing, probably a good idea, considering the ingredients. I don't care what we eat and she knows it: what we need is tasty nutritional food. She's a great cook so I rarely take over the kitchen.

It feels like the tail end of rainy season is here. Every week feels warmer; by June it will be really hot and hardly rain. Before we came to Bandung, I worried that its rainy season was similar to Seattle from October to May, where most of the day can be gloomy or at least overcast. I didn't think I could stand it. But in Bandung the sun usually shines half the day before rain gushes down for an hour or more to let you know you're in the wet season. We try to be inside when it pours.

So much happened during the last week. With one week to go, I finally let myself get excited about seeing our family in the Pacific NW.

Meanwhile, we're almost settled into our house. White paint is gradually covering the newly plastered holes and the wear and tear of years. Yesterday I hung living room curtains (white flat bedsheets on IKEA hooks) so we have privacy in the evening. Sheers cover every window but curtains help block light and heat.

Over the past few days, Waldemar and I met with several groups and visited friends at the hospital. We're preparing talks for back in the USA, beginning to pack, and writing. The all-important checklists for our helper's chores are done, mostly because of Josie's capable assistance. Josie is an Excel genius who can organize my ideas into a logical checklist. She also translates my "clean around the window frames" into Bahasa Indonesia.

Ibu A and I go over the lists this morning. I stress to her that she must sign in and out each day with Ibu Stacy, who lives at our old house. Otherwise she will not get paid for that day. The check-in will hopefully provide accountability for her and for her husband. He will continue to plaster and paint while we're gone. It would be very nice to come home after our trip to construction and deep-clean finished!

In the afternoon,  I point to a ring of black around the base of the cabinets as an example of what she needs to do. She says she's already tried to clean it and it doesn't come up. I get the wire brush, some cleaner, and tell her to keep working until I come back.

The landlord's old furniture and two new chairs as the house takes shape

Last weekend - a look back
Sumathi's visa to Singapore is delayed until Friday night, so she changes her flight to Monday while Augustine goes ahead. He's working in Malaysia next week with an accreditation team. Their language class is cancelled while they're gone.

My dear friend stays with us for 2 nights. What a pleasure to hang out with her. Saturday morning, we study scripture, catch up, and share our hopes and plans. We pray together for our kids and our work. Then we do almost nothing on Saturday afternoon, chatting, napping, and snacking while W runs around town. It's pure luxury after a week of moving and cleaning! Sunday morning after church, we eat at Miss Bee's. Then W drives her back down the hill to her home. He makes a stop at the hospital and brings back some electrical cords so we can keep working this week.

Tuesday
We have two tutoring sessions per week, Tuesdays and Fridays. We're not learning as quickly as we did in class but it feels like we are cementing words and more able to use the information.

On the porch, our canary sings sweet notes like there's no tomorrow. He's a lively and noisy bird, caroling the day away between his naps. He reminds me to praise God all day long. He'll stay with the family in our old place while we're away. Their girls are happy to have a pet. Part of the price of coming to Indonesia for them - as for me - was giving away the family dog/s. (Some days I really miss my two poodles! A bird doesn't provide the same adoration. haha)

I mist the canary with a water bottle once or twice a week, simulating rain showers. He's not impressed and ducks his head down until I'm done. Then he preens happily and sings some more.

Wednesday
We take the angkot downtown to Cafe Aroma, wedged between dozens of motorcycle and car repair shops. The shop has a constant flow of customers, buying the coffee roasted (and ground, optionally) that day. Aroma is sold in the finer shops around town but this is the motherlode.

Pak Widyapratama, lord of all the coffee he roasts

Where it all happens

The owner leads us out the back door. Behind the factory, raw coffee beans are drying on screens in the sun before they will be aged for 8 years in piles of burlap sacks. The smell around us is mellow, almost sweet.

Beans, sweetened by the sun

"This is the yellow color of the beans after aging," he explains. The harsh taste of modern coffee comes from the quick process from field to cup. "Most coffee today is processed by companies who care more about money than about coffee. We still roast coffee the traditional way. I am the third generation of Aroma and still make things like my father and grandfather did." His daughter also works in the shop, which has been open since 1930.

Beans before and after aging

Pak W shows us how they roast coffee over a wood fire, turned continually in 60 and 100 kg metal drums. He pulls out a metal shaft, hollowed at one end to catch a few beans, and checks their progress. "3 more minutes and it will be done," he with a quick look and sniff.

Slow wood-roasting

One of the most helpful visits this week is from Terry and Lulu Paschell, who worked in Bandung for 8 years (plus twenty more across Indonesia and the Philippines). They offer us good tips and tell interesting stories, sharing their legacy in students and colleagues. Lulu delights us with a copy of her book on marriage, written in Indonesian, sure to be put to good use in years to come.

The Paschells introduce us to two couples who remain their good friends, even after being gone from Bandung for years. After dinner together at the Reistafel (thank you, Pak I), we are taken to a separate area for the Full Gospel Business meeting. Waldemar and I introduce ourselves, as do the rest of the guests. As always, Indonesians give us a gracious and warm welcome. (How do people in the West treat those who come with Good News from Asia and other nations? Perhaps we're sometimes less inviting or inclusive.)

Two more days. Then we'll be on a jet plane. Feeling happy. But thinking ahead, I somehow miss this place already. This city feels like home.

Read more:
*I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer. Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies who surround me. Psalm 17:6-9 NIV

*O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. Isaiah 25:1 NEV

*Hezekiah received the letter and read it; then he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. 2 Kings 19:14 NEV

*Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 NEV

Moravian Prayer: Loving Father, we come to you today with many questions. Guide us in our journey as we pray for the purpose that you have placed into our hearts, our minds, and our hands. Amen.

Cleaning and praying

Horses in raincoats. Part of a Bandung traffic jam.

Wednesday, March 4

W and I have been busy beavers (yup, we're Canadians) since our move last weekend. We've had language tutoring and practiced what we learned while running errands around town. Inbetween, we've swept, mopped, unpacked, repacked, replaced, unpacked again. Around us, the aging grey walls are being painted, shelves are put into place, and floors and counters scrubbed. We've razored off the Miss Kitty hooks and hung our washcloth and dishtowels on plain white ones.

Cassava before and after:
raw and steamed deliciousness

In the evening I flip the light on in the kitchen and pour myself a cup of tea. Out pops a lizard from inside the storage bag where the tea is waiting for a cabinet. EEEk. When I rinse my cup, another lizard darts across the sink and up the wall. Eeek X 2. I'm not a lizard fan but I'm grateful that they eat other small critters.

Thursday

The handyman shows up at 8am. It's painting day again today. However, his wife - our helper is ill: we pray God's healing and comfort for her.

A big roach says hi this morning, resting on the shower curtain that I pull across the rooftop laundry area. During storms, the curtain keeps the rain from pelting the clothes as they dry. Otherwise provides shade so the upstairs doesn't overheat. Many rooms are screened but not closed off to the air: a mini-oven like the partly-enclosed laundry warms up the interior rooms quickly through the open slats.

The mess that is moving day

Every home has a personality. This one is more secluded from the street but it feels friendlier and more open inside. As a bonus, we don't have to yell between most rooms: the last house had small doors and many concrete walls so we had to be in the same room to hear each other.

W's happy. His passport arrives at the embassy so he'll pick it up in time to fly to Seattle with me. 

He had three meetings with friends already this week and will have another tonight. We've encountered many wonderful people in Bandung, but I'm missing my friend Dr W from across the street. We'll pass each other in the sky on different airplanes and see each other back in Bandung in a month or two.

We Skype with one of our supporting organizations mid-morning. It's wonderful to see Blake's face, a former piano student and W's university student. 

The call to prayer resounds through the neighborhoods as I write. We ask God's love and his favor on our neighbors, our friends, our city. May God bless Bandung.

The dust begins to settle

As the dust settles in the house, we are thinking and praying forward.

Sunday we slept for the first time in the new place and love it. It will be an excellent venue for our work as well as hosting friends who come to assist with community development, etc. God's timing is perfect: the family arriving for language school visited last week; they will maintain the old house for us to helps us look after it until the lease expires in August. They're equally handy and careful so we have no worries. We are leaving our old internet hookup for them so I'm back, overlooking the yard. Their laundry hangs on the clothesline we repaired and painted. Excellent all around.

Jambu fruit

We had our first guest Sunday as well. She arrived with fresh pastries baked by her mom. Now that's a good friend, to brave traffic from the other side of town on her motorcycle! We visited and prayed a blessing on her and her family. She took home avocados and jambu, a crisp watery red fruit from our own trees. We still have to explore the other food growing in the back.

Snakes, a resident mongoose, monkeys, and other critters live in the adjoining jungle. God watches over us all. We appreciate your prayers and partnership.

Read more:
*God says, “I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations.” Genesis 17:7 NEV

*Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Psalm 36:5 NEV

*Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25-26 ESV

*Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV

*Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8:35 NEV

*For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

Moravian Prayer: Dearest Lord, never let us be separated from you or our brothers and sisters in Christ. Help us to share your many blessings and boundless comfort with those whom we encounter today. Amen.