The Final Countdown!

When I woke up this morning the calendar on my computer said "1 Day Until Graduation"! Can you believe that?

God called us to missions long before we started working through the IMB application process, but we were too stubborn to respond to his call. Around 27 months ago Kellye and I were sitting in our dining room in Middleburg, Florida when we surrendered to this call and now we are a little more than 24 hours away from our IMB Commissioning Service. Twenty-four hours after that, we will be on a bus headed for Washington DC where we will get on an airplane and travel half-way around the world to our new apartment and new life in Moscow, Russia. I don't mind telling you that it is a little more than we can comprehend. And yes, we are excited, scared, nervous, thrilled...all of the emotions that you could possibly think of!

So, I will try to bring you up to date, give you a glimpse of the near future.

Friday night we had a wonderful dinner with friends. Two of the very sweet, and very brave, JourneyGirls volunteered to babysit all of the kids so our group of friends could have a nice dinner together. We went to a Brazilian restaurant where they served all-you-can-eat shish-k-bobs with at least 7 different kinds of meats. All-you-can-eat-meat-on-a-stick...need I say more??

Yesterday and today are our final classes. They are being taught by Dr. Tom Elliff and while we are very busy and need every waking second to finish packing, I am really excited about hearing him teach again. He is one of my all-time favorite pastor/teachers and I enjoy every second we get to sit under him. In addition, he is a great guy and I have enjoyed the one-on-one time that I have gotten to spend with him.

Kellye's parents arrived yesterday afternoon and the whole family was excited to see them! They had the opportunity to attend our De-mapping Ceremony last night, which was a moving time. The first weekend we arrived here we held a Mapping Ceremony where we each placed our photos on a huge map over the city where we will serve and shared prayer requests for the time while we were at FPO. This symbolized the future and was a daily reminder that in the days to come our group would be scattered among the nations to share the Gospel. Last night, as a symbol that the future was here, we each removed our photos and shared prayer requests for as we go. Ours was that we would be a light to the people of Moscow as we live and work every day. And, that God would use the media pieces that I will produce to recruit new missionaries for the work in Russia. Please join us in that prayer. We were also each given a Bible in the language of the country where we will be serving. There was something about seeing God's word written in my new language that made me weep. I know that is something that we will treasure for many years to come and pray that it is something that will be passed to my children and grandchildren as they are commissioned for missionary service.

We also had a brief OBU Alumni get together last night. There are close to a dozen of us here at FPO (including IMB staff). Did you know that no other school in the world sends as many people to the mission field through the IMB than OBU does?

Today will be a busy day for us. We have class from 9 to 3, the kids have an Open House at their school from 3 to 5. Of course, there is dinner in the cafeteria (boy, will I miss that when we are gone) from 5 to 6 and then tonight at 7 we will travel to a Baptist church down the road where we will hold a baptism service for John-John and his friend Laini. My parents, brother and sister-in-law, and aunt will arrive for the festivities this afternoon. Kellye's two sisters will also arrive this afternoon. And, of course, we will spend half the night packing, and re-packing our suitcases trying to get each of them under the weight limits. How is it that we have more stuff now than when we got here two months ago? I just don't understand!

Tomorrow morning our families will have a meeting with some IMB folks while we
have rehearsal for our commissioning. As a member of the AV Team, I have produced a 7-minute video for the service. That has been fun and I pray that our visitors can get a taste for what we have experienced during our time here. The service is at 11am and is followed by a reception. And, then the goodbyes will begin. We have made such dear friends, brothers and sisters while here these past eight weeks. It will be hard to say goodbye. Most of our friends serve in our region, so we will see each other at least once a year. But, after you have been living with one another day in and day out for two months, we share a special bond. I know that most of these people will be life-long friends and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to serve alongside of them. (Marc wept.)

Our flight is scheduled for 4:30pm on Wednesday and we will arrive in Moscow at 1:30pm local time on Thursday afternoon. We probably won't have Internet access for around a week, so communication from us may be spotty until we get settled and adjusted.

So, there it is. Pray for our family this week. Pray extra hard. It will be fun, exciting, sad, and scary. But the word that best describes the week is "obedience." Around a year ago Don Thompson slapped me on the shoulder and said to me, "Son, are you sure this is what you want to do?" At the time I answered, "No, but it is what God has called me to do." That answer is as true today as it was a year ago. There are days I wake up and just don't want to go. There are days when I just want my house and my old life back. And yet, most days I cannot wait to live in the largest city in Europe. The fact of the matter is this: it really does not matter how I feel. What matters is that our family is being obedient to the call that God has placed on our lives. I can tell you that there is no greater satisfaction that that. So, are you doing today what God has called you to? Are you being obedient to the things that He has for your life? Only you can answer that question. But, let me tell you that the God of the universe has your name written on the palm of His hand and that He has big plans for your life. They may not be to cross the ocean to tell people about Him. He may just want you to cross the street. Whatever He has called you to, won't you be obedient?

See you from Moscow!

Blessings,
Marc