Our sabbatical is designed to give us quality time in a variety of quiet places in the beauty of God's creation for rest, reflection, renewal and for ministry in a different context (Zambia). Rather than just staying at one location, we will be moving and then settling down for a while, then moving again to a fresh environment for fresh perspectives on our journey. But the one thing all will have in common is - "a quiet place in the beauty of God's creation," a phrase which we used to describe the retreat experience at Kenbrook Bible Camp while Gene was director there.
Think me not unkind and rude
that I walk alone in grove and glen;
I go to the God of the wood
to fetch His word to men.
Emerson
All of this is for the purpose of stepping significantly outside of our current ministry environment and being in a sustained listening mode for God's renewal and direction for His "what's next?"
Your prayers will be most appreciated along the way.
Hillman, Michigan. July 2-12 This is the community where we had our first pastoral assignment with the Maple Grove Brethren in Christ Church, 1966-1970. We will be staying in a cabin courtesy of Costandy and Beth Saba which gives us a view of Fletcher Pond also called the "Floodwaters" We'll enjoy some lazy canoeing and fishing during our time here while Gene works on his reflections of the year he served as Interim Lead Pastor at EBIC and begins reviewing 40 years of wilderness trip journals.
Sylvania Canoe Area, Michigan, July 12-19. Our family has done canoe camping twice before in this beautiful wilderness chain of lakes and Gene has led two Wilderness trips with youth and adults through here. We'll be renting a lakeside cabin on one of the lakes where no motorboats are permitted. Here we'll re-connect with many outdoor memories.
Cedarly Pastors' Retreat, Delafield, Wisconsin, July 20-25. This retreat center is operated by the Pastors' Retreat Network "to provide a self-directed and Christ-centered retreat experience where God prompts Christian pastors to feel His presence, discern His will and follow His leading." Our five days here will focus on prayer and spiritual renewal in semi-communal setting.
Heading West - Minnesota, N. Dakota, Montana, July 25-27. These are days of transition heading to our western destinations by way of Fargo, N. Dakota and Billings, Montana. In Billings we'll resupply for the next 7 days in National Forest Service cabins where we will simply drop out from civilization.
Judith Guard Station, Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana, July 27-August 1. This former ranger station will be our home for 5 days of relaxation with refreshing mountain air. Time to rest up from three days of driving and adjust to the rhythm of day and night - no radio, no TV. Just quiet and rest.
Gird Point Fire Tower, Bitteroot National Forest, Montana, August 1-3. Up a winding mountain road to near the summit of a 7,700 foot mountain where a one-mile hike gets us to the two-story fire-tower at the top with 360ยบ views of mountains all around us. We look forward to soaking in gorgeous sun rises and sun sets and be restored in the beauty of God's creation.
Diamond T Ranch, Clark Fork, Idaho, August 3-9. This week we will experience another Christian ministry which makes a special practice of extending hospitality to pastors and missionaries. We'll have a beautiful, fully furnished cabin at this Christian camp in the Idaho panhandle with the benefit of electricity so we can catch up on our blog posts, email and writing. A special focus here will be reading in preparation for our trip to Zambia. When we don't need to be near the computer, nearby lakes and mountains will provide super-quiet places of refuge and renewal.
Yellowjacket Guard Station, Salmon-Challais National Forest, Idaho, August 9-13
Back into the wilderness. This beautiful cabin is 50 miles off the beaten path and we can't wait to see it. Totally primitive as far as utilities are concerned, but very clean and well kept. Here we will assimilate our journey thus far and prepare ourselves for the bee-line back home before leaving for Africa.
The Trek Back Home, August 13-17
We'll take a pretty direct route back home stopping with friends in Omaha, Nebraska, Darlene's sister, Marilyn, in Des Moines, Iowa, and Ashland, Ohio where Darlene was born and Gene attended seminary. We plan to worship with the Ashland BIC church on Sunday morning, August 17 and arrive back in E-town that evening.
The next three days will be cleaning up and repacking for our trip to Zambia,
Zambia, August 21 - October 6
We leave JFK in New York on the afternoon of August 21 with our daughter Sara and son Tim, arriving in Johannesburg, South Africa the next day and then on to Lusaka, Zambia where we will meet mission personnel and stay at Pioneer Camp for the night. Saturday will find us grocery shopping for our stay at Sikalongo Mission and then leaving for the mission. We'll be there with the church for services on Sunday, setting up house and on Monday the four of us will leave for Livingstone for four days of family vacation. We'll be staying at Chantors while visiting Victoria Falls and one of the game reserves in the area.
Looking over Vic Falls anyone?
Not us!
After Sara and Tim leave us on the 29th we'll return to Sikalongo Mission for the remainder of our time in Africa. Some of our work there will be teaching at the Bible Institute and encouraging local pastors in their ministries. Later on we'll put up some pictures and stories related to Myron Taylor, Gene's grandfather who founded Sikalongo Mission and is buried there.
Last Stop Before Re-entry, Nag's Head, North Carolina, October 9-27
Most of October will be spent in this area where friends in the congregation have made their sea-side cottage available for part of this time. Here we will be catching our breath after many, many miles, recovering from jet lag, wrapping up all that we have experienced in the last four months and preparing to re-engage in ministry at the church, knowing that both we and the congregation will have journeyed far and wide in new directions and in significant ways during our time apart.
Father, hear the prayer we offer;
Not for ease that prayer shall be,
But for strength that we may ever
Live our lives courageously.
Not forever in green pastures
Do we ask our way to be;
But the steep and rugged pathway
May we tread rejoicingly.
Not forever by still waters
Would we idly rest and stay;
But would smite the living fountains
From the rocks along our way.
Be our Strength in hours of weakness,
In our wand'rings be our Guide
Through endeavor, failure, danger,
Father, be Thou at our side.
"Father Hear the Prayer We Offer," L.M. Willis
Settling In, October 27-November 1.
We're back home unpacking, checking mail (our regular email account has been on "vacation" mode for 4 months), reorganizing our house and trying to remember what E-town is like.
Worshipping with the EBIC Congregation for the first time in four months, November 2
From the perspective of writing this on May 2, 2008 a full two months before our sabbatical even begins, and at the point of concluding my role as Interim Lead Pastor (on May 4), November seems like a long, long way to go and virtually impossible to imagine. What will have happened at the church? Who will no longer be there? Who will all the new people be? How will the congregation have grown and changed? How will we have changed? All questions that can lead to foreboding or to anticipation. We choose anticipation because the future is God's future which brings us back to the whole point of this sabbatical: stepping significantly out of our current ministry environment and being in a sustained listening mode for God's renewal and direction for His "what's next?"
