We're Off (I Hope)

The day of the beginning of our mission trip has arrived.

So has the snow.

Looks as though the only day of the week when snow accumulation is expected in our area is TODAY! I had originally planned on leaving on New Year's Day, but thought better of it when an airline official told me (off the record) that it would be risky to fly on a holiday. It seems that there are more flight cancellations on holidays due to a shortage of crew members. Linda's recent experience trying to get to New Orleans on Christmas Day seems to bear that out. So we scheduled our flight out for Wednesday the 2nd rather than Tuesday the 1st.

When I arose about 4:15 AM, there was a light dusting of snow on the cars. Nothing to speak of on U.S. 23 here in Ashland. It's 6:30 at this writing and the ground and roads are now covered. It is a dry, powdery snow and only 1-3 inches are predicted. Salt trucks ran on Rt. 23 about 30 minutes ago, and traffic seems to be moving pretty well. I have no idea how the snowfall will affect take offs and landings at Tri-State airport, and from the weather map, it looks like snow showers are extending on down to our first destination - Charlotte.

Fortunately our flight out is scheduled for 1:03 PM. It's not supposed to be any warmer by then, but at least there should be time to clear roads (and runways) if the snow moves through as quickly as predicted. Sure glad we didn't schedule departure on the 6:00 flight this morning! Actually I'm a little more concerned with Randall Robertson making it in from Genoa in Wayne County, then what might be happening at the airport by noon. The whole thing is in God's hands - a God who knew what was coming today long before we ever purchased our tickets back in the summer. He has a plan for us, and we'll wait to see how He will work it all out.

We are praying for a wonderful harvest of souls in our crusade activities. Pastors Valdez and Zerna have been working diligently to set up an ambitious itinerary for our ministries in Oriental Negros. 400 Cebuano dialect Bibles have arrived there for our use, and we believe God has already prepared hearts there for our message. We hope to also share the Gospel with many others that we will meet along the 31 hour trip. Please hold us up in your prayers.

I'll log back on with an update first chance I get.

Hopefully that will be after we have escaped the snow and headed for our destination, 13 time zones away.

Oh, by the way. The current temperature in Manila is 82 degrees.