Merry Christmas! I pray that this holiday season regardless of the situation where you are at that your homes would be filled with peace and your hearts with joy. I wish you all the best during this special time of year.
I’ll try to keep this update rather brief. This month has been quite an adventure. I got the opportunity to return to the states for a quick visit to see my immediate family. About 7 weeks ago Switzerland, dropped the quarantine requirements for travelers coming in from the U.S. My parents had already planned a week in Arizona with my sister and her boyfriend. I had looked at coming back when they were planning it a few months ago, but it would have been quite impractical to have to quarantine for as many days as I was away. Thankfully, the restrictions loosened up creating a window of opportunity. My parents and I planned my trip in secret and I surprised Bri at the airport. You may have already seen the video on Facebook, if not I am happy to send it to you. We got to spend a week together as a family and it was wonderful. 2020 has been one crazy year and this was the first serious time off I have been able to take since January. It was so great to get recharged and ready for the start of a new year. I have a lot of anticipation and excitement about 2021. I am glad to be coming into it refreshed and ready for all that is in-store.
I also got to see God at work in the planning of the trip. The Swiss travel restrictions are revised every 2 weeks, so when I booked my ticket it was a bit of a gamble if the rules would be changed on me. I felt confident after some prayer to go ahead and book a ticket with my arrival back to Lausanne being on the 13th of December. Updates came and went and the U.S. managed to stay off the quarantine list. I traveled to the states with no issues. Then 3 days before I flew back they announced a new revision adding the U.S. back onto the list. The revision took effect on the 14th. It was a real jaw-dropping moment to see that God was at work even in the planning of my time off. I was reminded of how much He cares for even the little details of our lives and I felt so blessed.
Here are a few photos from the trip:
Back at the base, we have wrapped up the final quarter of this year and graduated students from both our Outdoor Discipleship Training School and Foundations for Counseling Ministry courses. Now that the students have left, we are in the process of getting the base ready for the start of next year. We also have a few weeks of Christmas break before the start of 2021. I am looking forward to a few train trips over the break, a relatively quiet Christmas, and New Years’ before we launch into the grand adventure of another year.
As always, thank you for coming along with me in this adventure of faith,
Ben