The pearl of great price

This recent time has not been easy for us as we have been awaiting the appointment for Mark's heart procedure, feeling frustrated that it is over a year since we were serving in Bardaï.

Since Christmas we have been in Didcot, participating in the rhythm of BMS Didcot life with two or three meetings a week and occasional messages from Chad, along with visits to see Ruth and Rebecca. But much of the time we have been on hold, waiting for a phone call from the hospital, whilst trying to keep busy reciting TEDA verbs and doing other reading.

In all of this, we have been fortunate to experience moments that remind us of God's presence in the midst of what seems to be endless waiting. As Spring arrives, we have been out walking, exploring the churches around Didcot which seem to have a large number of beautiful modern stained-glass windows. At Iffley we were reminded of God reconciling the world to himself through Christ ,with a Roger Wagner window showing the tree of life with the river of life pouring out from its roots. Again, as the sun shone through the window at Blewbury church, we saw God as Alpha and Omega surrounded by eight large resonating circles representing the bells hung in the tower above. They have called out through the centuries to the village and surrounding countryside and continue inviting us and future generations into the presence of God who is the beginning and end of all things.

In February conversations with the consultant's secretary had led us to think the procedure would be in April or after, much later than we had initially thought. This, all be it disappointing, was in some way fortunate, as it meant we were able to go to Penzance for two weeks and support Andrea's mother as she recovered from a hip replacement . Despite the many rainy days, we were again made aware of God in the beauty of creation coming to life after winter. We walked to see fields of daffodils and watched the daily opening up of magnolias and camelias on the trees around Penzance, extravagant displays of a generous God. We watched the waves rolling in on the shore bringing a new perspective on timelessness and our significance in God's plans and continued to reflect on what God might be saying as we seek to follow his ways.

Finally last Friday we had good news, whilst on the rail replacement bus service in Plymouth (not one of our favourite modes of transport), we received a phone call from the hospital with the date for the procedure of 16th March. The call was immediately followed by seeing an amazing rainbow arching over the road before us, suddenly, after all the frustration of waiting, we could see a glimpse of our ourselves back in Bardaï. It felt to be a moment of God's blessing on us.

Now, as we are starting to make plans, we find the future receding and difficult to grasp and we hanker after the imagined past. We are not sure exactly when we can return to Chad, possibly a month after the surgery or maybe longer, the consultant will let us know. In addition, we are also needing to make some important changes to our secondment arrangements and will be entering into a new agreement with another partner with some support from TEAM. This is not proving as straightforward as we had hoped and we will be needing more patience to find a good solution.

God calls us as he did Moses to turn aside and spend time with him, all the joyful things that we have experienced, stained glass, flowers, phone calls and rainbows are reminders of our first vison of the kingdom that we continue to seek. The eternal kingdom that has already begun is where we must be prepared and content to do what God asks, which may not always be what we were planning or feel we can do well. We pray that this Lent we will all be able to take the time to turn aside and hold on to the moments of revelation and listen to God as he speaks and guides us.

With love,

Andrea and Mark.