Friday morning of 7/13/07 Abby and I headed out with the caravan of buses, vans and mobile homes.  We followed them, as it was suggested, until we got onto the open highway.  I soon realized that I could make this trip in five hours going ahead or stay with them and add 2-3 more hours to our travel time.  Lets see …Run Forest, Run. That was my decision.  I pulled into the outer lane and set the cruise on 70 and off we went.

We had a very smooth trip, stopping at our leisure to take breaks.  We did however, get into a bad construction traffic jam on the IL side of the bridge to cross the Mississippi River.  That delayed us about 45 minuites to an hour and we still got to the Church about 2 hours before everyone else.  I phoned a contact on a bus and warned them of the delay ahead and they were able to take an alternative route.

Driving into St Louis was full of emotions for me, having lived there for over five years.  We passed the Adams Mark where I first stayed with friends when we came up for the first time to go to a women’s conference.  My encounter with the Lord at that women’s conference was to change the course of the lives of my husband and I like I would never have dreamed. We would end up leaving an awful lot behind to pursue what we felt the Lord wanted us to do in St Louis.

The Lord used that five years to expand us and we gained a lot of good friends.  We left there feeling discarded and defeated, yet I have to believe that the Lord accomplished in and through us what He wanted to accomplished.  Only eternity will tell.  I just know that the Lord we love so much has not and will not let us down.  He has proven Himself to be faithful and more than enough.

Well, back to my journey. We arrived at this little church called New Life Church in St. Peters, MO.  It was just off the interstate but on a back road, not real visible.  But I guarantee it is very visible to the Lord.  They treated us like VIP’s.  The ladies had gone to the store and gotten us toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, wipes, etc.  All we needed to clean up.  The hair on my legs was ready to be platted it was so long.   Abby and I went down the street to a discount store and bought clean blouses to wear and came back and refreshed.

They had also prepared a full feast for us.  We got to eat twice.  Before and after the bus. Little did we know we would need that extra food to carry us in the near future.  This was a true example of what the Lord said when he said “you gave me drink when I was thirsty…whatever you do to the least of these you have done unto me”.

It is also a lesson of what happens when you are good to the people God puts in your life.  Tom was connected to these people by divine appointment years ago and he blessed them.  You never know when you sow good seed into people’s lives what might happen down the road to bring that harvest back to you.  That connection blessed three bus loads + of people.

The leadership planned to only be at this Church long enough to refresh and rest.  The plan was to drive all night to Wichita.  I was very concerned about that drive.  We were already tired and the bus drivers were looking exhausted.  Some of us prayed that the Lord would put it into the leaders hearts to stay the night in St Louis.  However, they called for us to load up about 9pm.

We started loading up and asking the Lord for grace when two buses would not start.  Hum…sometimes the Lord has to shout to be heard. We very eagerly got our gear and began making sleeping arrangements in the sanctuary. Praise the Lord for his intervention.

We got about 5 hours rest and got up the next morning to eggs and bacon.  Someone pinch me, I think I died and went to heaven in the night!!

We packed our luggage and loaded it onto the truck called Israel because the buses were to be coming soon to take the group to a campground outside of Kansas City.  Those traveling in their own vehicles went ahead to the campground.We kept thinking the buses were coming any time and the tour would start.  However, on the afternoon of August 11th we were told that the money did not get transferred in time and the buses were not released to the drivers. Most of us now had no clothes or toiletries to clean up.  We were not real concerned because we thought there would be a turn around shortly.

That night we had a worship service and communion. Two of the young men approached Chuck and felt the Lord wanted us to have a foot washing.  It was to be the young washing the feet of the elders to show honor and the elders washing the feet of the young to bless them.  I believe that was the Lord.  However, some missed that blessing because they wanted to do it their way and wash their friend’s feet. A seed of rebellion was planted within the group that only grew as the trip went along.  That rebellion caused stumbling blocks for the rest to overcome, but did not stop the purpose of God.

Two young women that had already become special to me , Josanna and Abby, came and asked me if they could wash my feet.   I was honored.

Josanna was a young women who was very meek, but a power house.  She was on the trip with her younger brother.  They were both home schooled and their parents had done a wonderful job of imparting Christ like characteristics into their lives.  They both had a servants heart and were constantly working behind the scenes on their own accord to clean up what others had trashed.  Every time I looked at Josanna, I heard the word Mennonite. Someone else told me later that they got the same word for her. I inquired of her if there was a connection with the Mennonites in her background and she said there was not. Maybe it was just her meek spirit.

Abby is my new friend from Mississippi.  I received a call from the lady I consider my spiritual mom, Frances Gilmore, that I needed to look for a tall blond from MS named Abby Ades.  Her great grandfather was Frances’s spiritual father in the FourSquare Church.  I thought how am I going to find this girl among a 100 tall blonds. I asked one girl and she did not know Abby.  I thought, Lord you are going to have to show me this young lady.  Later that day I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and there was a pretty, tall young blond at the next sink brushing her teeth.  The thought crossed my mind that this was the girl.  I asked her where she was from and sure enough it was Abby.  This was the beginning of our adventure across country. Abby was to become my travel companion in Bob’s car.  What a blessing she was to me. She was home schooled also and is now ordained by the Assembly of God Church.  She knows she is called to go overseas, especially Europe, and especially France.

July 12th we still had no buses coming and news that something was wrong with one of them we were to purchase. The 24 hours was up for us to be out of the facility and now we were hiding inside, hoping the authorities would not come and kick us out.  All the vehicles were moved off the street and we laid low.  We did however, continue to worship the Lord.  I thought it was very interesting that one of the songs that came forth that day was Freedom. The word I saw written on the buses.

Sometime in the early morning of the 13th the buses arrived with worn out drivers at the helm. They were to take a time to rest and then the plan was to drive all the way through the night to Wichita, KS. We had missed the time frame to go to the campground in MO. We had to be in Wichita to do strategic prayer to stop the abortionist,Tiller the Killer, in Wichita. That was a very long drive for exhausted drivers to make safely. I began to pray for wisdom to be imparted to the leaders and supernatural strength to the drivers.

Finally the afternoon of Saturday, July 13th we headed for Wichita with a rest stop planned at a Church in St Louis. LET THE TOUR BEGIN!