Family day in Edinburgh

The Ben Shore family took the Sanderlin family to downtown Edinburgh today to view the sights that tourists from around the world come to see.  I had seen alot yesterday, but we really enjoyed everything today that Edinburgh has to offer.   No doubt we didn't see everything!

Lineup of the Shores and Sanderlins

 The gravesite of Horatius Bonar

 Inside view of part of the National Museum of Scotland...a very impressive place.

 The kids had fun making viking helmets

 King James VI of Scotland also called King James I of England...he was born in the castle in the pictures below.

 Exhibit for William Wallace who died in 1305.  Next to him on the right is Robert the Bruce the first of the famous kings of a united Scotland.

A monument to David Livingstone.

Graveyard and church where Horatius Bonar and other Bonars are buried.  

It was a cold and cloudy but very fun day!  Thanks to Ben and Katie Shore to giving us the royal tour!  

Scotland!

Wow, we arrived safely in Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday morning at 7:00am. Thanks for praying!   Unlike arriving in Cameroon there was no one around when we came to collect our 13 pieces of luggage!  Thankfully, a customs official and some of our kids helped Abby and I push our 6 carts through security where Ben Shore was able to help us the rest of the way.  We only had a one hour delay on Saturday in Chicago as the Newark airport was closed due to high wind or something.  The trip to Scotland after that seemed to go by fast.  My family slept most of Sunday, but in the evening we were able to go to Free Baptist Church in Lonehead.  This church started by Ben and Katie Shore of Hudson, Wisconsin regularly prays for us.  So it was a joy to present our ministry through our DVD and then preach for them.  What a blessing to be in Scotland, the original land of the Sanderlins!  Here are a few pictures of before we left, of our arrival, and also where Ben and I went today...

                                      
Leaving Chicago on Saturday...thanks to all our families for all your help. We miss you!

Great to be in Scotland!!!

I couldn't come to Edinburgh without finding some old graves...some really important old graves.  Here is the grave of Thomas Chalmers who died in 1847.  He was the first leader of the Free Church of Scotland after they broke with the state church.  He was the teacher of Horatius and Andrew Bonar as well as Robert Murray McCheyne.

 In the distance is the hill where King Arthur's seat is located.

 The last church that Horatius Bonar pastored, then called Chalmers Memorial Chapel.

 Ben Shore taking me to the Royal Mile, the Edinburgh Museum, and other places...

 The memorial to the Scottish Covenanters who died as martyrs in the late 1600's.

 Buying a few good books!

 The castle in Edinburgh!  King James was born here and is where the Scots kings and Queens were from.

 With John Knox in the St. Giles Church where he preached.

 A memorial to Thomas Chalmers in the St. Giles church

Riding home on a double decker bus!!  We plan to take the whole family out tomorrow before leaving for Brussels and then Cameroon.  Good night!

Bon Voyage...leaving for Cameroon

We have had such a great furlough and wanted to say thank you to everyone who prays for us and who has helped us along the way these last nine months.  We will miss you all!  We have been getting excited to get back to our friends and ministry in Cameroon.  It will be a one week adventure starting today...

We left Hillsdale, Illinois today and are spending the night with some of Abby's family in Chicago.  If you have been keeping up with national weather, you might have seen the blizzard on the New England coast in the New York area, specifically in Newark, NJ.  That is right where our connecting flight to Scotland is, so pray for us that we'd have wisdom for this trip and that the Lord would show us the route to take back to Cameroon. 

If we make it to Scotland on schedule or with just a little delay then we'll have almost three days to spend with missionaries Ben and Katie Shore.  After leaving them on Wednesday, we'll fly to Brussels and with a long layover will spend the night there.  Then we'll make the last airline leg of our journey to Cameroon on Thursday.   We plan to reach Sabga, Cameroon on Friday one week from today! 

Thanks again for your prayers.  Here are a few pictures of recent events as we finished our furlough travels...

 Visiting Bob and Juanita Warinner in Wisconsin.  Bro. Bob is the founder of Wings as Eagles. 

 Chloe was sick, and Elena was being a good big sister. 

 Elias and I were in our element in the Wings as Eagles hangar in Wisconsin.  We stayed there for about a week as we got immunizations, and other things. 

Visiting Jared and Rebekah Longsine. 

Visiting Stephen and Tina Rains at Camp Joy.

 We also got to enjoy watching the transition of Wyldewood Baptist Church as Pastor Jason Brenenstuhl became the new pastor. 





I didn't get any good group pictures of our time in Illinois, but we have been staying with my family as we finished packing.  It has been a hectic last week, so thanks to Dad and Mom and Emily for putting us up and putting up with us!  There house is one of my favorite places to be! 





Our "hotel" at Providence Baptist College in Elgin, Illinois...saying goodbye to Abby's family!