The Hopps on Lagonav

We all arrived home safe and sound from our weekend trip to Lagonav. We are very thankful for the way God brought us to the island, carried us safely over the roads and gave us opportunity to fellowship with the brothers and sisters of the churches there. A wonderful time was had by all.

As many of you know we were prevented from making our trip last weekend because of Hurricane Dean. But Saturday dawned clear and calm. But more adventure lay ahead. Ethan woke up sick to the stomach. There was some miscommunication with the man come to drive us to the ferry so we left late. Then I locked the keys in the truck! And other than needing to find a backup interpreter at the last minute and the kids waking up Friday night scared by noises, off we went : )

We boarded the ferry at Carries for the hour ride to the island. The water was calm and the kids enjoyed the flying fish flying out of the bow wave. Our dog Thai got to the ride on the top deck of the ferry and did really well. Unfortunately she had to spend a good deal of the time in her crate. Probably more than any of us she was happy to be home!

Part of the day Saturday was spent exploring Ansagale. The town of about 10,000 will be our home, Lord willing, in 2008. We walked with the kids to the market, through the dusty streets and back to Fifi's guesthouse.

Saturday we had at least a couple inches of rain as a series of thunderstorms went over. The roads of Lagonav are already terrible but we wondered if we would even make it to the worship service in Nan Kafe. And we did! Brothers and sisters from the churches in Plen Mapou, Lapye, Bois Pen and Nan Kafe gathered to worship together. There was special music, prayer, reading God's word and I had the privilege of preaching from Mark 4:35-41 where Jesus calms the storm. That's Pastor Eliton from Nan Kafe in the picture with our family.

After a time of fellowship we made our way down through the mountains to Gran Lagon. More delays as we blew a tire. The driver made a quick change. The saints sang as we drove in. More worship of our great and glorious God then back to Fifi's for supper. The kids were real troopers and even enjoyed the trip. 10 hours on the road.

Then before we knew it, it was time to go home. We rose at 4AM to be down at the wharf by 4:30AM. With a big "fet" over the weekend lots of people wanted to go home. With only so many seats on the ferry we had to get there early, in the dark. We got our seats, loaded up Thai and off we went. A slight chop gave some fun waves and more flying fish. Back home before 8AM. Praise the Lord for his goodness!