March 2022 Update
Dear Friends,
Just got back from my most unusual trip to Europe yet. Here's a brief timeline:
March 14-15 - Arrived in Frankfurt for a City to City team meeting. Our colleague in Ukraine, Ben Morrison (below, left), was with us via video both days.
We all agreed to pray for Ukraine at 2:24 (invasion day) every day. Ben, located in Svitlovodsk, is pastoring his church, shepherding a number of church planters, and ministering to hundreds of refugees fleeing from East Ukraine to the West.
March 16- Wednesday - 2 of our team tested positive for COVID 19. I departed for Croatia, where I was scheduled to speak at a conference and a church.
I spoke at the Mackovec Baptist Church Wednesday evening from John 4 on Jesus's encounter with the woman at the well.
March 17 - Thursday - We drove to Crikvenica on the Croatian coast, for a conference for 130 missionaries and church planters from all over the Balkans.
I started having symptoms, like I was coming down with a cold.
March 18 - Friday - Day 2 of the conference. I enjoyed talking with conferees. Was not scheduled to speak until Saturday.
March 19 - Saturday - I was the last speaker on the docket, speaking in the morning on 3 Keys to a Healthy Church: 1. Good Worship, 2. Good Small Groups, 3. Good Leadership. That afternoon we drove back to Mackovec, near Zagreb, where I was staying with long time Croatian friends Nenad and Silvana Kovacevic. That night a doctor, one of the elders of the church, gave me a home test and I was positive. Still felt like I had a cold.
March 20 - Sunday - I preached on John 4, on Being on Mission in the Middle of the Day. I wore a mask before and after preaching. My voice, which tends to weaken and (often disappear) when I have a cold, held up well.
March 21 - Monday - Day of rest in Cakovec. Still feel like I've got a cold: head stopped up, sinus drainage, sore throat.
March 22 - Tuesday - Went to Cakovec medical clinic - tested positive. This was the official testing site that would clear me to travel home.
March 23 - 24- Wednesday Thursday - Feeling OK. Resting, reading, praying, struggling to be patient. Was supposed to be in Belgrade, Budapest and Vienna the 21st through the 30th. All canceled. Waiting to test negative. Becky encouraged me to come home as soon as I tested negative. I agreed.
March 25 - Friday - I tested negative at a Cakovec medical clinic, received my COVID 19 passport and was cleared to leave the country. I was able to rebook with Delta and return home Saturday from Zagreb instead of Wednesday 3/30 from Vienna. Still felt like I was on the back end of a cold, but much relieved being past the coronavirus. God blessed with and uneventful flight home.
So, this is part of the job. I chalk it up to an occupational hazard. Though disappointing, God was in control and most gracious. I could not have been in a better place: in Croatia, with longtime friends, under a doctor's care. Lessons learned: patience, trust, waiting on the Lord, thanks that I was where I was and not seriously ill.
Thank you for your prayers. I am grateful for your support of the church planting movement in Europe. I am eager to get back to it.
Next up:
May 18-31 - I'll be in Rome with Eric Shrimpton, NCCC Missions Director, to explore the possibility of a new partnership between North Cincinnati Community Church and newly planned Rome church plant. We'll go on to Croatia, so Eric can meet the leaders of the NCCC- Mackovec Baptist partnership for the first time. Then on to Vienna, to check up on the development of a new Vienna church planting network. I'll go on to Athens, where I'll be speaking at a conference for Balkan church planting leaders, to discuss the possibility of forming a Balkan Church Planting Network.
Sincerely in Christ,
Walter