We are thankful for the time we spent with many of you renewing friendships and making new ones. As always the time is never enough to see everyone. However, hopefully for those we didn't see face to face you were able to see our presentation and be informed of what we have been up to the last two years or so.
Our trip to Europe was via Hong Kong and we managed to stay a couple of days at each end to help break up the travel and also manage the jet lag. Hong Kong is one of those places where all your senses seem to be working at high speed. Our first night was a bit overwhelming as we got a local taxi from the airport with a driver who didn't speak much English and our language skills were definitely non existent for this part of the world. However, we were glad he knew where he was going and we didn't have to figure it out. Our hotel was squeezed in the midst of some very tall buildings and it felt quite claustrophobic until we got orientated. Walking in the street is a bit of a hazard at times as the footpaths are not that big and everyone is on a mobile phone trying to walk and talk and text at the same time. The smell of fried rice, seafood and other culinary delights were never too far away and we enjoyed trying new things. Simon would have been up for more courageous taste testing but the rest of us were a bit more cautious knowing we had another long haul flight to do.
Our second time around in Hong Kong was much easier and we were able to enjoy more of the sights that this special place had to offer.
Our time in Switzerland was spent visiting with family, friends, supporters and speaking at Simon's home church. Joshua and Zara had an amazing opportunity to go snowboarding for the first time thanks to a gift from Simon's Dad. They loved every moment of it and it was fun for Simon and I to get back on the slopes too. We were thankful for the family time together.
Whilst in Switzerland I was able to take a train up to Frankfurt in Germany where I met with a long time friend from our Uganda days. We only had 6 hours together but had a lot of fun and enjoyed the catch up time and creating new memories.
From there we travelled to Scotland where we caught up with lots of people. Some we hadn't seem for some time but had the privilege of a short time together. It was great to see so many at my home church in Edinburgh and many thanks to those who came out to hear us speak. It was lovely to see people spending time with each other and getting reacquainted.
From Scotland we made a trip down to Yorkshire where we shared at St John's Church in Ilkley. This was the first time we had been able to visit and it was good to meet different people that had been praying for us over the years and had a keen interest in MAF. Thankful for the hospitality shown and help provided.
There were many highlights from this trip but one thing stands out more than anything and that was the people that we came across that said that they pray for us daily. To know people stand in the gap on a daily/weekly/monthly basis is quite humbling and confirmed again that our role in MAF is only the tip of the iceberg. It is definitely a team effort for us to be able to do what we do and we are thankful for each of you who aide us in this advernture.
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| Simon speaking at an event in Meilen, Switzerland |
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| The Wunderli family on Christmas Eve with Joshua on his tip toes :) |
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| Another first for J and Z - snowboarding |
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| A quick visit to Germany to visit this special friend and prayer supporter |
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| Trying out some interesting cuisine on the floating jumbo restaurant |
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| Concrete jungle - quite the experience |
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