Hi all
We realised recently it is more than 12 months since our last very sad blog, when we had to leave Manila following a very dangerous situation and return to the UK.
Since then we have gone through a range of emotions - sadness and anger that we were forced to leave and disappointment that despite being told otherwise we have had no contact from the charity since arriving back in the UK, and thus no real closure.
We were so hurt by the experience that at the time we felt we would never get involved in any sort of mission work again.
We are fortunate to have a support network of family, friends and our church who have loved us and given us the time to work through what has almost been a grieving period, and given us the encouragement to want to continue to do God's work.
In March Sue helped to support a group of our young people in working with the FAST charity in Romania, a charity we have both been involved in before, taking groups of our youth to help with housing and education for the Roma gypsies. It was a delight to go back. Apart from that there had been no sign from the Lord that he was ready to use us again despite numerous prayer requests from us and others!
Someone said recently that the Lord was giving us time to rest until he felt we were ready and also teaching us patience, and that was so true because now the call has come!
We will be returning to FAST on October 12th, staying until early December, to help them to establish English courses for both youngsters and adults, and also to look at self-worth and self-esteem issues with some of the teenagers. We are so excited to be involved and glad that the Lord has not finished with us yet.
And of course, he always does immeasurably more than we ask as we are now in the early stages of discussion about the possibility of our involvement in a project in Uganda - a secondary school, resource centre for local primary schools and a health centre - more on that when we return from Romania.
So - our conclusion - God is good, he is always faithful and he loves us, and no experience, however dire, is wasted by Him.
Blessings
Sue and Stan
