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Two of our favorite people are Julie and Charles Garland (our pastor) - who dropped by for lunch and informed us that they were starting a new church in Tuscon! Godspeed, Garlands!
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After speaking at Evergeen Pres in Sevierville, we enjoyed rootbeer floats with the Love family.
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Larry Love, an OBGYN physician, has made multiple trips to Ukraine to help our crisis pregnancy center.
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We stopped by the beautiful Smoky Mountains on the way home from Sevierville.
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The day after returning from Tennessee, Bob took off for L'viv, Ukraine for meetings with the other team leaders.
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Country director, Jon Eide, headed up meetings to work through future ministry issues. Good stuff ahead!
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The day after returning from L'viv, Bob and family drove to Virginia to meet with friends and supporters at a borrowed cabin. Based on this photo, it looks as though our children want to be adopted into the Ghrist family!
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With no phone connection, cable or internet, we enjoyed several days of blissful outdoor activities.
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We hiked in the Blue Ridge mountains, and enjoyed God's beauty and each other's company.
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The Neal family girls also joined in climbing trees.
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We ate some gourmet meals - thanks to Rob's culinary skills!
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Eudora discovered the (delicious) flora of Virginia - wild chives!
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All of us trekked in kayaks, paddle boards and a canoe on the (ice cold) river which runs through the property.
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Gathering with these amazing two families was a highlight of our time in the States. We're grateful for their friendship and open hearts.
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During our last day in Virginia, we visited Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. Abby was under the influence of an antihistamine because of a cold.
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Later that evening we greatly enjoyed a visit with Andrea's interpreter and friend from Ukraine, Sveta - and her family! We were having so much fun, we neglected to take a photo until it was too dark.
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On the drive home to Atlanta we stopped to meet with Bill Bebout, professor at Virginia Tech, and ardent supporter of ministries in Ukraine.
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Emily and I have continued our running in the hot Georgia sun.
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Emily (on cello) & Abby (on guitar) have been treating us to impromptu summer porch concerts.
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Orthodox and western Easter fell on the same day this year, and we couldn't resist putting peeps in Iris's homemade baskets! (They don't have those in Ukraine, thankfully!)
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We enjoyed Easter dinner with Derek and Catalina Kreider, and Derek's parents. The Kreiders will be our new neighbors to the west - MTW missionaries to Romania.
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We enjoyed getting to know Lena, part of a church-planting team in Vyborg, Russia. We're grateful to the Maynards for hosting and championing churches in the former Soviet Union!
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Every three years MTW Europe missionaries gather for a spiritual renewal conference. This year it was in Greece!
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We took the girls out of school and headed first to Athens for a quick look at the Parthenon since they have read the Percy Jackson series and are interested in Greek mythology.
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Near to the Acropolis is Mars Hill, where the apostle Paul explained to the Athenians who the "unknown God" is that they'd built an altar to in their places of worship (Acts 17:23).
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Our conference took place on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea. We enjoyed natural beauty and wonderful fellowship.
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The conference center where we stayed was beautiful and relaxing.
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The first few days the water on the coast was too cold to venture into for all but the most brave.
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Each day was filled with worship, teaching, encouragement, and network / training opportunities.
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I'm guessing stripes are in this year! A beautiful coincidence shared internationally by Nopie Kantartzis, Eda Kim and Kay Burklin.
