Tide

The tide has been extreme high and low this week in front of our house. Thats about the best way to describe the things that happened last week. There were some of the most encouraging and discouraging moments of my time here. Two of the major ones happened about half an hour from each other.

On Monday night I was talking to Kevin. He told me that because of health problems and other issues both at home and here he was going home. I knew about the health issues a bit, but it was still a pretty big shock. Things moved very fast from there. He left Thursday morning. Luckily we got a nice goodbye meal with him before he left, but its odd here without him. If you could all keep him in your prayers it would be appreciated.
About ten minutes after that Philip came into the house. He had just finished a 30 page report to his sending organization about Greenhill: All the volunteers, activities, accommodations, pay, everything. I wanted a copy of it, to share, but it was all in German. He did share with me what he had written about the RAD team. He basically said (and I'm paraphrasing some) that the Americans changed his idea of the stereotypical American, and also the stereotypical christian. We encouraged everyone to explore faith, but don't "point fingers." We have helped him with his faith journey, and he is very glad that he's gotten to know us. If I would have written out goals for my time after being here a month that is exactly what I would have said they were. It was so encouraging to hear a friend say that I've reached my goal without even know he was saying it.
It was a whirlwind of a night. Thats how it goes sometime, high tide and low tide, but for the most part I'm feeling great about my time here.