Harrys Travels

Since the summer began...

So much has happened. 

One problem with being busy is the lack of time it gives to blog. It seems that the more that happens the less we write, but conversely when nothing is going on we obviously have nothing to write about.

To summarise the summer so far in a single entry would be way too tough for me and far too boring for you. Hopefully this week will see a flurry of blogging activity and anyone who can stay with the story should be as up to date as we are... things are changing pretty quickly though!

Following Evans collapse and time in hospital in Turku we were advised to cancel all our summer plans and get back to England for medical tests. Obviously Evans health is our only concern when compared to everything else. So we began an epic journey back to the UK. I dropped Misty and the kids off at Turku airport and they flew back to Heathrow via Copenhagen. They were safely back (thanks to Mistys parents) in Devon that night. As they ended their journey i started mine. I'll not bore you with the details but it involved 3 ferry journeys and a 2700km drive. The final day of driving i was on the road for 21.5 hours. Thankfully I had broken the journey staying with the lovely Neu Brandenberg guys for a days rest (and obligatory game of poker!).

For the past 2 weeks or so (until this last Thursday) we stayed with my wonderful in laws in Honiton. We really can't thank them enough, they continually sacrifice themselves giving up their home for us at short notice and just looking after us really well. 

Then, on Thursday, we moved East. To the only town I have ever said i would never live in! Seriously, when Misty and I were engaged and for a while after we were married we spent time in Surrey and both of us swore we would never live there! 

We are staying in a house full of lovely people. The 24-7prayer transit study course has just finished and there was room in the house for them to put us up for a month. 

Unfortunately this is only until the end of July and then we need to move again (not sure where to yet!). But if this last month with all its ups and downs has shown us anything its that God truly is in control so whilst we panic and worry occasionally we are surprisingly upbeat!

In the meantime we are beginning to settle here. (briefly – we are planning to be in Guildford for 6 months to: rest and recover after 2 and a half years out of the UK, plan and prepare for a long term move to Macedonia, to work with 24-7prayer on several exciting projects.)

Evan has a doctors appointment in the morning, so we will hopefully know a little more about his situation then. I'm cracking on again with book writing, I'm actually about half way now, which considering the month we have just had is pretty good, And we are setting about making friends and getting stuck into living in Guildford.

I'll write more again tomorrow but there is just time enough to say thank you.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement over what was a pretty tough month, we are truly overwhelmed by the love you have shown us and several times were lifted by your prayers.

Back in the UK

Well, what a month June has been!! It really has been a month of the unexpected...losing so much stuff through the theft; then being totally, incredibly, overwhelming blown away by God's provision, learning to recieve the amazing generosity of those we know and those we don't; watching our little boy suffering, not knowing what's wrong with him, and carrying the uncertainty that that brings; then being so uplifted by the thousands of prayers that have been sent up for Evan; and now...cutting short our summer travelling to return to the UK. Needless to say we're pretty exhausted (and Scot still has 3 days of driving left to reach us) both physically and emotionally, and we have a lot of thinking and praying to do.

Little Evan

I wanted to make sure we had as much detail as possible before posting this so please forgive me for not sharing earlier.
Evan was taken sick 2 days ago (days are blurring rather at the moment but i think it was Friday) he collapsed and was fitting and being sick. The finnish health service is wonderful though and I am so thankful we are here. 2 ambulances arrived in minutes and were followed by a doctor in a helicopter that landed in a neighbours garden!

Evans blood sugar was extremely low and he was given a glucose drip which brought him round a little. he was taken to Turku hospital an hour and a half south of here (Aki and Marias summer community house) where he has been since then. Various tests have been carrised out all of which have come back negative which is great news.

More tests will be done this morning but they expect to release him today. Although it will be such a relief to have him home again we are very concerned about the lack of a diagnosis. The medical team at the hospital have advised us to return to the UK as soon as we can for more tests. So that is what we are doing. Misty and the kids will fly back on Tuesday and I will drive back getting back as soon as i can.

I must say that whilst its been a pretty emotionally tough time. Its not easy holding your unconscious son while he convulses in your arms. God has been a rock, a storm has come and torn through our lives but God has been good and faithful. Ever since we had all our stuff taken in Poland He has bringing us closer and closer to Him.

prayers would be valued obviously for Evan and the doctors (please also thank God for keeping e close and for some amazing doctors etc). but pray for us as a family travelling home too, pray for those who were expecting to travel with us or see us this summer (all travel plans outside of  UK cancelled for now) and for practical things like where we can stay for the next couple of months. Also this time it looks like the insurance will cover hospital bills and maybe the flights home please pray that all works out ok.

once again many, many thanks

s

Aftermath

We continue to discover things that were 'borrowed': various bags, leads, torches, binoculars, hot water bottles (!) etc etc. The worst is when Mimi, or less often Evan, discover that something of theirs was in their traveling bag, Mimis address book for instance, in which she was collecting the details of all her new friends, was taken. Each time we discovered something missing we were being kicked in the stomach.

However God has been proving He is in control. Pretty soon after we discovered the robbery we contacted the police who, despite holding no hope of recovery whatsoever, were very kind, the campsite owner as well put himself out to give me a lift to the police station and translated from Polish into German (my German friends you would have been most surprised at the amount of German i knew! I certainly was!!)
The insurance lady in England was hopeless and offered no assurance as to the outcome of a claim (which would in any case be very limited in its reimbursement). The small print of our travel insurance points out that no 'valuables' (for which read 'anything of any value') is covered for theft from an unattended vehicle and unattended means out of your sight. hmmm

We have been bearing up pretty well and M and I had agreed that all our stuff belonged to God anyway and if he chooses to redistribute it thats His call.
Thats pretty easy to say... Yesterday though he taught me more about trusting Him and allowing Him to take control again than He has done in a long time.

We were driving from Lithuania, just after visiting the pilgrimage site at the hill of crosses (which i hope to blog about next!). when i started thinking about my driving license... where was it... in my wallet... where is my wallet... ?... I went pale and my hands began to shake a little. I had left my wallet, which i don't use very often, locked in the car for safety. It had all my bank cards and credit cards in, we had just transferred pretty much the last of our savings to our current account. They could have cleared us out and maxed the credit cards easily in the 2 days it had stupidly taken me to realise they were missing.

I hit the steering wheel, i was close to losing it. We were in the far east of Europe and we could be stranded without a euro to our name. Misty took over driving as I called up each of the card companies.
One by one i explained and canceled my cards. But at each call the bank told me that there had been no transactions or that transactions had been attempted but were declined, they couldn't tell me why they were declined but they were.
As i hung up my final call, i began to cry. God had brought me to the point of despair. He had taken me to the edge of what i could bear. past my proud assurances that of course 'He was in control' to a point where He demonstrated His care, compassion, grace and faithfulness. I had got the point, God was in control, He loves us, everything is His, nothing belongs to us. He provides, not me.

It was that evening that i sat down to check emails here in Riga and God started to lavish his goodness on us. We have been so blessed, and felt so supported by our friends and family who have carried us in these last few days.
i cant say it loud enough nor long enough. Your encouragement has meant more than anything to me.
thank you from the depths of my heart, from the deepest breath within me, thank you my friends for carrying me and Misty, Mimi and Evan. You are so much more than we deserve,
thank you.

Poland

I was hoping to give you a nice update telling you just how friendly the polish are (which they have been) and how beautiful the country is(which it is) and how God has been with us (which he has).

instead though its pretty crap news i need to write.


2nd night - we woke up this morning after staying on a different very nice campsite in teh east to find our land rover had been broken into. we have lost our camera, ipod, sat nav system (which was a gift from friends and is SO helpful), our laptop and various other bits. worst of all they took Mimi and Evans travelling bags which contain all their games and toys :(
 
at the moment we are all rather shell shocked and to be honest i feel like crying right now. i have just checked our travel insurance and i have a feeling none of this will be covered. i am off to the police again shortly.
One big problem is that i have a book to write and now no laptop to write it on.
 
please pray for some peace, protection, strength, practical stuff, and for the kids they are quite upset but bearing up well.

The sun is shining and we are being very well looked after in

Neubrandenburg

,

Germany

, this weekend. We arrived here late Friday night after too many hours sat in the Land Rover wishing the kilometres away.

 

 

This year our summer’s journey started after lunch on Wednesday as we travelled, via Crawley and then onto

Utrecht

where we stopped overnight. Friday saw us driving for 11 hours along many an Autobahn, pausing only occasionally to stretch our legs, swap drivers, drink coffee and eat! Boy I hate motorway driving! A big part of these ‘trips’ we take is about the journey – learning about the country from what we see and stopping at places where we can pray and meet God…not so on the motorway. On the motorway it’s all about where we’re going and getting there as fast as possible, not leaving any space for God to speak or direct (ooh, I feel a life analogy coming on!!)

 

Anyway, in this instance we had to push on, and the destination was worth the effort. It’s been great to spend some time with the community here in

Neubrandenburg

–Ralf, Moni, Basti and Kaddi. They have an amazing gift for hospitality and we’ve been able to experience a little bit of their life here. One thing that has really impressed me is the way that, although this is a ‘community’ here it feels much more just like one big family – the way it’s supposed to be I guess - it seems to come naturally to them…beautiful!

 

This morning they’re going to take us into the centre of

Neubrandenburg

to show us and share with us more of their vision for being here. Once again we’re privileged to be in a place at the beginning of what God is doing…

 

Then we press on northwards, with Krister and Resa, into the unknown. We’ll travel on slower roads and with less ‘fixed’ destinations. So who knows where God will lead us this time?

Saints... and books

Its offical then. I'm going to be writing a book for Lion Hudson, the book will be short biographical pieces on (mostly) 1st millenium saints looking to the lives of these saints for inspirition today. the message their lives can teach us etc.

Tabor - Czech Republic

It's 7am, the sun is already shining, there are cats and chickens and a dog roaming around the garden and sounds of people waking up all over the house...

Painting

Here are a few paintings from the last couple of months.
They are all oils of various sizes. To be honest i have no idea how to paint with anything else!! I have bought myself a set of water colours though which will be a little better for traveling!
The first 3 will form part of a prayer meditation on the baptism and wilderness experience of Jesus and hung in Bremen Cathedral for the Cristival festival.
Then there's one of a beach at Ohrid. And lastly one we use for the morning intercesional prayer here in Ramsdorf.

I couldnt get the dimensions right when i uploaded them so if you want a better look; click on the painting to open it in a new window.
x

More Marmite = More Posts

I haven’t blogged anything for a while. I’m not sure why, I thought it was partly because there hasn’t been much to tell (which is true), partly it’s because I’ve been feeling pretty down and didn’t want to express that publicly (that’s true too).

However I found this week that my lack of expression may have just been due to a depression brought on by a lack of that most valuable of substances… Marmite.