This Has Been Quite The Week

If you've followed the last couple of posts, you know the week started with the departure of the Moody 182. The airplane isn't the only thing that departed MMS recently.

The Saturday before the 182 departed, MMS gathered over at the Shelly's to wish a fond farewell to three families that had completed their service with MMS and are transitioning to ministry beyond our hangar doors. Whenever MMS gathers for a "covered dish" (or pot-luck for all you west Coast folks), you are guaranteed an amazing array of delicious food followed, typically, by tubs of ice cream and a variety of toppings. When we send families out, we like to do it in style. Here are the families heading toward the field:

Scott & Lela Lazaros, David & Amy Mozombite, and Gertjan & Glenda Kamphorst.

Scott and Lela have four boys and are headed to Alaska. David and Amy have two boys and a girl and are headed to Bolivia. Gertjan and Glenda have a boy and a girl and are headed to Indonesia.

It's been such a blessing to have served with each of these families. This is the tough part of MMS, constantly making new friends and then watching them leave to continue their mission service. Preparing people to serve is a huge part of what we do at MMS, but it doesn't make it any easier to say so-long to friends.

Most of the MMS family gathered for the occasion.

Beyond that, we had a candidate evaluation going on, one of our graduate families was in town for a week on furlough from Brazil, a new apprentice family rolled into town today to look for housing in preparation for moving to Coshocton, and another MMS family is coming in for a visit tonight after completing their service in Canada. The hangar and our home has been hopping! I'll post some more pictures in the next post.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

(As a health update: I'm feeling fine, am back full-time at the shop, and have been given the green light to resume normal activities!)