Mexico!

As you may have noticed, missionaries can be a little weird.  It's okay. We know it and accept it.  Some of us may even think that it takes a little weirdness to become a missionary.  So, I've had these "bucket list" places that I've wanted to go to for years.  As a missionary, I have had the privilege of going to many places and countries.  I count that part of my life a blessing.  BUT, there are two places I have wanted to go and never gotten to go to.  I have been within mere miles of their borders.  So close that it almost hurt to not get to just cross over.  What are these two magnificent places that I have dreamed of visiting?  Well, Mexico and Canada of course!  How can I travel around the world and not have been to the very two countries that border the US?  

Y'all. Yesterday, I got to go into Mexico!  We are in Yuma, AZ and you can literally park in the US and walk across the border to a little town.  And I have never seen one place with so many dentist offices. We walked around and had coffee.  Then we had lunch. Then we saw the Trump wall and had to take a picture.

It was wonderful!  And now I can check it off.  Canada, I'm coming from you next!

  

So, you see, it was like this...

 Hey Y'all, how have you been?  How's your momma and 'em doing?  So, we are back in the US for a bit.  How long you ask?  Well, not sure.  So, here's the story in case you do not receive our newsletters. (If you do not and would like to, comment on this post.  I will not publish the comment with your personal info, but will add you to the list.)

Our Latest Update

Praise the Lord, from Taiwan!
This is not a newsletter. It is just a short update to let you know what is happening as a result of the recent lockdowns.

The main reason for this update, is to let the church in America know about some recent changes in plans. Due to being unable to conduct our normal outreach (nursing homes, children’s outreach, orphanage), and since my wife had not seen her parents in two years, I decided to send my wife and children back to the USA for two months. On returning to Taiwan in August, they would need to do a home quarantine for fourteen days. I would stay in a hotel and buy groceries for them during that time.

Unfortunately, last Sunday, Taiwan changed their rules requiring the quarantine period to be in a government approved location . We were willing to work with this situation. Unfortunately, that wasn’t all. They also require children thirteen years and older to be quarantined separately from their parents. Alone. I feel this to be immoral.

My options are limited. In the twenty years my wife and I have
been married, two months would have been the longest time we
had been separated. I am unwilling to be away from my family indefinitely. That having been said, there really is no end in sight for the situation in Taiwan. For these reasons, I will be returning to the USA temporarily. Pending a change in Taiwan’s quarantine policy, I plan on travelling between these two countries while my family bases in the USA. Please keep us in your prayers as we navigate these new waters.

Hope to see many of you soon, Christopher J. Bracken

  

After service fellowship in a random city parking lot.

Our new music department compartmentalized in our car.

 Government approved location

So, I might be seeing you! We don't always understand the journeys that God takes us on, but we know he is never surprised.