We are nearly finished with our third mission here in Navarre, FL. The first two missions felt very productive; however, this mission seems to have been hindered by hurricanes, vehicle problems, and COVID! That said, we still have accomplished many things, including prayers and witnessing on the beaches, encouraging and teaching another family how to travel and witness to people, encouraging the local church, and spiritual warfare.
We arrived in Navarre, FL, after some much-needed fun with my brother Shawn and his family. They treated us to fun, laughs, and a relaxing time. Our car troubles had begun to creep up on our way to Shawns, but it was a lot worse by the time we got to Florida. Some electrical problem is plaguing our system and causing false warnings to go off, the security alarm to go off randomly, and the horn to burn out. We’ve had to take it to the dealership several times for days and days but still haven’t got an answer as to what is wrong. We’re praying it gets figured out this next time.
Oh, and somewhere along the way, we broke Elizabeth’s e-bike so that limited our mobility even further.
However annoying the car and bike have been, we still didn’t let it stop us. We hit the beaches shortly after getting moved in. There we enjoyed God’s creation and looked for opportunities to pray for people and share the Gospel. It was a great time.
We were excited to meet the people of the local church as well. We hadn’t seen any of them in several months. On our first day, we met a small family who felt God leading them to travel and evangelize. When they found out we were doing it they invited us over for dinner to share our experiences.
They were very kind and treated us to a fantastic dinner. The kids all had fun with their kids while adults talked about what we’ve learned about evangelizing and traveling. It was good food and fellowship, and I am glad we were able to encourage them to make that jump and give some details as to how to do it.
We also saw the area, including the most fantastic restaurant I’ve ever seen, Rock n Roll Sushi. It’s all things rock and roll, and they serve sushi… It’s A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. There is a local Y.M.C.A. here, and our family has enjoyed using it regularly for the gym equipment. I had no idea the Y.M.C.A. was anything other than a silly song. Who knew? 😉
Not long after, Elizabeth received an invitation to join the women of C3 on a retreat back in Orlando. So we packed her bag, and she hopped a plane for the first time and headed out for a couple of days with the C3 ladies. She had a great time and was excited to see that special group of ladies again.
Meanwhile, Joel, Miranda’s ‘special friend, flew from Michigan and spent the week visiting us. We enjoyed his time here very much. Between the drop-offs and pick-ups, I was at the airport for three days in a row!
Things got a bit more complicated as hurricane Ida was approaching because I was getting pretty sick. I thought it was the flu (that’s what it felt like anyway), and I was praying I’d get better before the hurricane made landfall. They predicted Ida to hit near us, but we’d be on the outer edge. Knowing storms rarely go where they should, I was concerned we might have to evacuate, which would suck if I had to do so while sick.
Thankfully the storm stayed far enough away that we didn’t need to evacuate. I remained sick for another week, a total of 10 days. I was pretty much in bed all day with a high fever. After nine days of high fever, I went in and got checked. It turned out to be COVID and not the flu. They tested me for both. Which I have to wonder, if we can place a man on the moon, why in the world can we not come up with a better test than shoving a long Q-Tip up to my brain?!?!
I am entirely symptom-free and on the mend, but it took me out for nearly two weeks. We are down to less than two weeks here, and it seems we haven’t got much momentum in our mission. One of the last things we plan to do is take a few of the local youth group members out beach witnessing before we go. I am hopeful that goes well, and the kids find it as incredible as my family does.
