Pacific Northwest

The Journey Continues...

After a great time at Daneen’s home in PA and then our East Coast travels, we headed to the Pacific Northwest for two weeks.

First stop: Seattle.  

Our main purpose in going to Seattle was to reconnect with Bethany Presbyterian Church, a longtime supporter of CGA.  We were able to meet with their Kenya Missions committee to give them an in-depth update on CGA, as well as our future plans. We also shared about CGA during the 4 minute "News from the Front" at the start of each of their weekend services.  It is a special church that does so much for their local community and all around the world.  

We also enjoyed reconnecting with many friends; a long-time friend of Joe's who is a missionary in India and recently got married; a few of Daneen's friends from college, Peace Corps and Uganda; as well as several other friends.  After church on Sunday we watched the Broncos – Seahawks Super Bowl rematch... not from the stadium but a restaurant just outside of Seattle with our old neighbors from Mbita who also recently came back to the U.S. from Kenya.  There weren't as many people in the restaurant as there were at CenturyLink Field, but at times it felt just as loud!  (They're serious about the 12th Man!) 

One of the biggest blessings of our time in Seattle was that we were invited to stay with friends from Bethany Presbyterian who have a great view of the Puget Sound.  

Next stop: Portland 

On Monday, we boarded the BoltBus to Portland.  It was a cheap way to travel ($19 each) and we even had free WiFi onboard the bus!  We definitely never rode on buses like that in Kenya.  Portland has a special place in our hearts because Daneen lived there for a while and it's where we first met each other and began to fall in love!  Many dear friends still live there so we enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with them.  We hosted another small intimate gathering with friends to share about CGA, Suba Lakers and us, and had another gathering of CGA supporters at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.  

We also spent a morning at Forest Hills Lutheran School and shared with all of their students. Forest Hills began a partnership with CGA in recent years and has found ways to involve their students with ours.  We were lucky to squeeze in time with a number of friends while also hanging out in the Colombia River Gorge for the day! One of the Portland highlights was being able to attend a wedding of our friends Garret and Heather (also our wedding photographers).  It was a special time attending a wedding together (our first since being married) and seeing God's union of another fabulous couple!   

Before leaving Oregon we spent a day in Corvallis with a CGA board member (and good friends) and then took a drive up the beautiful Oregon Coast to enjoy some of God’s great creation with the cliffs and the waves.  

We feel privileged to travel across our beautiful country and catch up with so many people that are close to us, while also sharing about God’s work in Kenya!