Two thousand, seventeen – that’s how many miles we drove in February!  It has been a privilege to visit with former friends and meet new ones.  Here’s where we have been…

We started our travels in Hilton Head Island, SC.  We visited with the First Presbyterian Church of Hilton Head, church home of Mark & Betsy Baker, Ed’s brother, his wife, and their family.  We were able to participate in 3 services, 1 Sunday school class, and 1 luncheon.  This is a growing church that now offers a contemporary service.  This service is for the “young at heart” regardless of their age.

From Hilton Head, we traveled to Orangeburg, SC, and visited with St. Paul’s UMC.  This was our first time visiting with these fine folks.  We had a terrific Wednesday night supper, an Ash Wednesday service, and topped off with good visitation with a church member, Betty Stone.  It seems we knew Betty’s sister about 26 years ago here in Atlanta!  What a small world this is.

We headed south from SC, into Florida.  We took the opportunity to see Ed’s cousins & aunt, who live in Ponte Vedra, FL.  It was fun visiting with them and catching up on family news.  From Ponte Vedra, we headed a bit north to Fernandina Beach, FL.  This is the home of Memorial UMC.  Memorial has sent teams to Paraguay for the past 3 years, so it was good to see so many familiar faces – without a shovel in their hand!  This is also the home church of Ed’s father, Jim Baker, who we were pleased to get to visit as well.

Leaving Fernandina Beach, we headed further south to Lady Lake, FL.  Lady Lake UMC is a new supporting church, and it was good getting to know these fine folks over a good Wednesday night dinner.

We left Lady Lake and headed back north to Valdosta, GA.  Driving through central Florida was a pleasure.  This is horse country and is just beautiful.  We drove to Valdosta, GA, and First UMC of Valdosta.  This is the church that we were married in 38+ years ago.  We were able to share our ministry with a Sunday school class that included many folks with whom we went to high school.  It was fun to see how none of us had aged a bit, even after 40 years!

After leaving Valdosta, we visited with some friends we were in Costa Rica with at language school.  They were serving with The Mission Society in Peru, but have returned to the states due to health reasons.  They are now serving as senior pastor at Colquitt UMC in Colquitt, GA.

We needed another Wednesday night supper so we headed to St. Mark UMC in Pensacola, FL.  This was our second visit to St. Mark, so a time to share our ministry with folks we knew.

From the panhandle of Florida, we headed home.  The next Sunday we were at Duluth UMC, in Duluth, GA.  Here we were able to give a brief presentation at all 4 of their services.

We finished off February by visiting Dalton, GA.  We attended their Mission Celebration – and what a celebration with several foreign missionaries as well as local missionaries attending.  Dalton has also sent a team to Paraguay, so we visited with friends we knew.

While in North Georgia, we took one afternoon to scoot up to Alcoa, TN.  This is where the Holston Conference Foundation can be found.  We met with Roger Redding, Executive Director, and shared some of our ministry.  The foundation donated the funds for a well which we drilled in 2007. 

Rick & Nancy Bell, Libby Tunnel Wooden plaque from Paraguay Dalton First UMC – Dalton, GA

In March we’ll be heading out again.  Pray for traveling mercies as we hit the high roads, sharing what God is doing for the people in Paraguay.