Jubab has
arrived safely in Hungary!!! We were so thankful yesterday for the news that
his team arrived in Budapest and everything was well.
But leading
up to his departure, Jubab had 10 days of boot camp at the Teen Mission camp in
Tewantin so he has been gone since Dec. 13th.
On Christmas
Eve, we travelled up to Tewantin for Jubab’s commissioning service along with
the rest of his team and all the other teams leaving from Teen Missions for
various mission fields overseas.
We hadn’t
seen Jubab for 10 days so we were really anxious to
see him.
It happened
to be my 49th birthday and some dear friends had invited us to stop
by their place for lunch on our way up. They surprised me with a birthday cake
so it started to feel like a birthday while we were at their place.
Continuing on our journey after lunch we arrived at the Teen Missions’
gate about 5 min before we could go in. We were fifth car in the line of anxious parents waiting for the gate to
open at exactly 4:00 pm. Right on the dot we saw a van coming and someone got out and swung the
gate open wide.
We could hardly wait to see our son and when we drove in, we immediately
saw him on car park duty with the rest of his team and we were just itching to
grab him and hug and kiss him! It was the best birthday gift for me that day to get a hug from my son!!
Here he is
with his team (in the light blue shirts) just before the commissioning service
began.
He looked
very happy and said that their time in boot camp had been wonderful and they
were all looking forward to heading off the next morning for Hungary.
The
commissioning service was moving and I think many of us were in tears by the
end when the parents gathered around their teens out on the oval, who were
grouped in their teams and holding the candles that they had lit as a sign that
they were ready to go and serve the Lord and shine the Light of their life – which
is Jesus - in the places where they were going.
Soon after,
we had to say our goodbyes and this was heart-wrenching for the three of us to
hug goodbye and then to step away and drive off knowing that half a world is
going to separating us for the next month. I think my tears kept flowing for
almost all the whole 4 hour drive home. We have never experienced feelings like
this before.
But in spite
of missing Jubab so much and him missing us, we are so, so glad that God
planned this time for him and that God is working in his life and heart using
people who we’ve never met. That is the amazing thing about the Body of Christ!
We praise God for the leaders on his team and the missionaries they are with in
Hungary who God is using to reveal more about Himself to Jubab.
They arrived
safely in Hungary the evening of Dec 26, after traveling 15 951 km on 3
different planes, over a 2 day journey. Right now it is -2° in Budapest and
hopefully Jubab is keeping warm and sleeping well as it is the early hours of
Sunday morning over there. Meanwhile, we pray and pray and keep trusting
everything to our Lord Jesus! January the 24th is the day that Jubab
is due to come home. Please keep praying for him and for his team and for
wisdom for their 3 leaders. Pray that they will have unity as a team, really grow
together in the Lord and that they will be a big blessing to the missionary
family they have gone to help and that they will keep shining as Jesus is
reflected in their lives.
