Well, we jumped the last big hurdle of our second term – boarding 3 airplanes, hanging out in 2 airports, and crossing 1 ocean (for a grand total of 31 hours in transit) – and made it safely back to the States last Wednesday. It’s been a whirlwind since then of getting readjusted to America, switching time zones, getting caught up on appointments, and beginning to catch up with family and friends. And we can officially say that ice cream, cheese curds, fresh berries, lattes, bagels and cream cheese, family time, church, American roads, customer-comes-first service, and more are all as good as we remembered. It’s actually a bit overwhelming!
As even as we still adjust to being back, we are packing up to begin our first speaking “tour.” Our first stop is Mt. Pleasant, MI at my (Kristin’s) home church, First Baptist. We would love to connect with as many of you as possible, even though our time there will be short. But, if you’re able, please stop by on Sunday, when we will be speaking about our ministry over the last 2 years during Sunday School (9:30-10:30am), and then Derek will be preaching during the 10:45am service.
From there, we head to Indianapolis to spend time with family. And the following Sunday (September 21), we will be at Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI.
That covers the first part of our “tour,” and we’ll keep you updated on the next part of our “tour” schedule as it gets closer. It will be great to connect with as many of you as possible. Feel free to email or Facebook us with any questions. And please continue to pray for us as we put Charlie is the car for endless hours and stay in many homes and introduce our introverted Charlie to so many new people over the next 2 1/2 weeks. Thank you for all your prayers for us so far – God has already answered them in abundant ways! Now, we look to Him to do still more.
Derek and Kristin Dearth 