Travel Update

Over half of our journey is over; and in a few months, we hope to be back home. Our trip has been filled with many new experiences and challenges. God has been with us through it all, and I think it's time to share some of the highlights.

Now, the story of how we got the truck and trailer is a series of blessings and opened doors, but that is for a later time. For this article, I will focus on what happened after we left Alaska.

Our first few days were rather uneventful, long days of driving and then stopping at an RV park. That was until we got to Watson Lake, Canada. Originally, we were only going to stay a night. However, while we were getting there, we discovered we had a broken leaf spring on the trailer. (Don't ask me what or where that is, I do not know.)

We stopped at an RV park across the road from the Watson Lake visitor center and Recreation center. We stayed there for several days and were able to visit the church there and meet some people. (We were only supposed to be there for one night.) Thankfully, Dad was able to find a mechanic to help us. However, the parts we needed were three hours away in Whitehorse. They could be delivered to us, but that would take days. Instead, Dad went himself to get the parts. While there, he was advised to buy a second set of leaf springs rather than just one. It was a good thing too since when the mechanic went to fix it, he realized both were broken. Once the Leaf springs were fixed, we set out on the road again, about a week behind schedule, but we were going.

From Watson Lake to Colorado was fairly smooth, except for the many tires that popped, went flat, or even shredded. We arrived in Colorado to visit my favorite (and only) sister, Alyssa. She was going to college there. We had planned to only stay for a couple of days, but Alyssa was not feeling well. It soon became apparent that something was not right. Dad took her to the hospital. There we found that she had a cyst that would require surgery to remove. It was a good thing we were late, if we'd been a week earlier(Like we'd planned), we would have left and Alyssa would not have had us around to help. Due to some complications with insurance, Alyssa had to be sent back to Alaska for the operation. We decided it was best to extend our stay so we could be there to help when she got back. However, the park where we were staying was proving to be very expensive. But yet again, God opened a door for us.

We had gone to Lakewood Church of the Nazarene the first Sunday we were in Colorado. During that Sunday, they also happened to be welcoming their new Pastor and his family. The second Sunday, we asked if they would be willing to let us stay in their parking lot. We offered our help with whatever they needed. The pastor, Brian, said he'd talk to the board. Soon enough, we were given the green light to move to the church. That Monday, Pastor Brian called Dad up and said the church had been given lots of equipment, (sound, lights, recording, all that fun stuff) and needed some help transporting it and setting it up.

So, while we were staying at the church, Dad was busy helping them set up and learn how to use the new equipment. He and Isaiah also helped with the construction of a shed, as well as, a few other projects.

We ended up staying through Thanksgiving. Although we thoroughly enjoyed staying at the church, we knew it was time to move on. Unfortunately, between tires, a new axle, and other costs, we'd depleted our funds. We knew we needed to get to Virginia, but we were not sure how. Mom and Dad felt God saying to wait and trust Him.

The Sunday before we left, Lakewood church decided to give us a love offering. They did not know that we needed money, and they did not tell us that they were planning to take the offering. It was truly God making a way. The day we left, they were very sad to see us go. (A few of the members jokingly threatened to steal our tires so we could not leave.)

The first two days of travel went well...until our truck started steeming just after leaving a truckstop for fuel. We had to turn back. During that, we lost power steering and brakes. Thankfully, we made it back to the truck stop. Our water pump in the truck had gone out and needed fixing. After some searching, Dad found only one mechanic able to take us without a week's wait. We stayed two nights in the truck stop, (definitely don't recommend it, semi trucks are very noisy) then we were back on the road.

We arrived in Bloxom, Virginia Sunday afternoon. The church had evening services, so we were able to attend. (even if some of us desperately needed a shower)

Many projects needed to be done, but we were only staying two weeks. So we decided the best thing to focus on was the bathrooms. While we were there, we also got to see the church accept five new members.

Once again the time came to leave, and once again we were out of money. (The water pump repair had cost us quite a bit of what we'd been given by Lakewood Naz). Again, we prayed, and again God told us to wait and trust Him.

Now you must understand: the church in Bloxom is very small. Their usual attendance is around 15 people. They do not have many funds. But God made a way, and they were able to take an offering and give us enough to get to our next destination, Tallassee, Florida.

I'd like to mention that on the way to Florida, we lost our last spare tire. At this point, every tire on our trailer had been replaced. (Dad and Isaiah are now very experienced when it comes to changing tires.)

We stayed at my Uncle Matthew's house while in Florida. (My Mom's brother) It was very fun to be able to visit with cousins and be able to learn from each other. It even snowed while we were there! (Though it was more like slush.) We ended up staying for around 2 months. During that time, Dad worked some odd jobs and we were donated money by someone who heard about our need and mission so we could get some repairs done on the truck.

Eventually, we felt called to move on again. We stopped in Katy, Texas to visit some friends. Dad also did a job to get us a little more funding. Then we were off again.

We drove through Arizona and New Mexico, and are now in California. We are currently at Horizon Christian Fellowship and are helping them out with some repair projects as well as assisting in their Friday night out for the kids.

Every day we pray for safe travels and guidance on where our next stop should be. It's a challenge to be able to let God lead when we want to know what the plan is. Sometimes we feel like we're going blind. But we are learning to trust God. He knows the plan, and the best path, even when it doesn't seem right to us.