Dear friends and family,
Jet lag was a bear, but it's good to be back. It's been three weeks since we arrived to Slovakia from our summer trip to the States. It was a good trip but, as always, it was a rushed trip. Thankfully, the kids did pretty well (better than expected for sure), and it was a blessing to see friends and family.
But we are glad to be back.
Summer Highlights
Our summer travels went like this: California to Idaho back to California to Nevada to Oklahoma to Texas. Seven weeks, seven churches, five cities, and good time with good people.
I spoke in every place we visited, sharing about our work with UBI and often getting an opportunity to share from the Word as well. At the Legacy Church of Christ in North Richland Hills, Texas, I was asked to share about my calling as a missionary. Preparing for that caused a lot of soul searching and reflection and I ended up being very thankful for the out-of-ordinary speaking assignment. If you’d like, you can listen to that here (I begin speaking at 16:10).
Justus swam in every place we visited, reveling in his new swimming skills and successfully avoiding a sunburn the whole summer. He had fun visiting cousins and friends in all the different places that he’s now started to remember.
He also logged his 100th airplane ride during our summer travels. We were flying Southwest and were delighted when they made a special announcement for him, presented him with a crown made of snacks, and invited him up to the cockpit on our way out. (You can see pictures from his first fifty flights here.)
Katie celebrated her 40th birthday in July. This year's annual Birthday Dress photoshoot took place in Katie's old stomping grounds of Northern California which meant we got to spend it with most of her family. (You can see more photos of this year’s dress from the day here.)
Eliana was the big headliner on the tour, melting hearts with her adorable smile and easy-going personality. She’s getting really close to walking these days, and has a few consistent vocabulary words we’re pretty sure we’re translating correctly. And at 11 months old, we just spotted her first two teeth coming.
Back-to-School Jitters
The week before we left the States, I was waking up at 5am in the morning to lead our new student interviews before carrying on with our day in the States visiting friends and making last-minute shopping trips.
Usually we try to schedule our arrival back to Europe with ample time to recuperate before any major responsibilities, but this year we didn't do that. We arrived to Košice on Tuesday afternoon, I was in my office on Wednesday preparing for our scheduled staff meeting Thursday and planning our student orientation for Friday. The new school year would begin the following Monday.
It was Thursday when my body decided it had had enough. I started having severe body aches but pushed through the plans and meetings for the day. But then on Friday morning I woke up very sick. I was no help to Katie and the jet-lagging children for several days and couldn't make it to worship on Sunday. Thankfully, I was able to speak at our opening chapel Monday morning, but it still took me several more days before I was back to normal.
UBI is Back in Session
I'll share more details in our upcoming UBI newsletter update, but we were very excited to start our school year with 25 students, 13 who were joining us for the first time.
I've been especially enjoying leading our new weekly Spiritual Formation class, which is part of our newly refreshed curriculum. In a couple weeks I’ll be teaching my course Introduction to Exegesis which I’m also excited about. It’s been two years since I’ve taught that course.
Until Next Time
It was good seeing so many of you on our trip, but we missed making all our stops and seeing everyone. Thank you for your hospitality and the fellowship and the time you made to see us. And thank you for continuing to believe in us and the work we are doing.
Please keep praying for Ukraine, for the war to end soon. And keep praying for the institute to glorify God in both its Bible training and in its wide-reaching and effective benevolence work.
Until next time,
Brandon and Katie
Justus: “I can breathe air through my eyes.”
Katie: “No you can’t.”
Justus: “Then why do I blow air out of my eyes sometimes?”
Love to all of you . Thinkingvof you all... continuing prayers for the year ahead.
It was so good seeing your lovely family at Woodland West. I didn't get to visit but I was there to hear you speak. May God continue to use you and Katie in His Kingdom. I was glad to hear you made it home safely!!!! Thank you for always sharing pictures of your family. God is so good!!!!