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2007...
What a year! So many changes; from Estonia to Texas, from missionaries to “members”, from the far north to the deep
south, from crazy busy to waiting on the Lord.
We spent the months of January and
February preparing to move from our home of 10 years. There was a house to put
on the market, much sorting and then packing, a container to load ... so much
to do to close up this chapter of our lives. Besides these things, we still
wanted to keep the work going with the congregation we were leaving
behind. So... the classes, studies, the
LTC preparations and program--everything continued right up until we flew to the States. It was difficult to leave, but the day arrived that we had to say,
“Goodbye for now” to these wonderful people so close to our hearts.
We flew into Dallas
on March 4th and were greeted by a big crowd of friends and loved
ones. We loaded our luggage into a pickup truck and our family into the church
van, then sang our way to Paris,
Texas, which was to be our home
for the next nine months. The van
delivered us right to the door of our cottage in the woods on HikeAWay ranch,
so generously provided by our brother and sister in the Lord, Gene and Ruth Ann
Stallings, and their amazing son, Johnny.
We were welcomed by the Lamar Avenue church, and integrated into
the family there. Almost immediately we
were invited to go with them on a medical mission trip, so the last days of
March and first part of April Mike, Geoff, Jaime, Kari and Zach helped in La
Ascension, Mexico. Easter weekend we were all involved in the
LTC convention, both with Lamar
Avenue’s team and with our Estonian kids’
entries. The rest of April and May were
a bit more relaxed, and we were able to spend time with several friends who
came to stay with us a few days at a time. Also during that time Kari went to work
full-time with Dr. Jay Spencer in the dental office, and Kaci’s crocheted
angels were discovered. Jaime spent a
week on staff at camp Iron Springs then went to Virginia
as a part of a photography team shooting the 400th Anniversary of America,
at Jamestown.
The end of June saw Mike, Geoff, Jaime and Kari board a
plane headed for Tallinn to work at Camp Bal-ChYo-Ca and then to stay and
encourage the churches, especially the Liivalaia congregation. July was a time
of reunion and sweet fellowship there.
Mike and Kari stayed three weeks, Jaime four, and Geoff five.
The last week of July (while Jaime and Geoff were still in
Estonia) Kari, Kaci, Zach
and Tim attended the THIRD CULTURE KIDS Camp held at Oklahoma Christian, where
they found others with similar life experiences, growing up outside the USA. Mike, Deb,
Titus and Drew joined them later and enjoyed the weekend sessions for families.
Once Jaime and Geoff returned, Mike and Jaime headed off
to Kansas and Colorado
to represent the family at a wedding, and Deb moved Geoff to Lubbock where he began his studies at Sunset
International Bible Institute on August 11th.
The next weekend we all met up again in Dallas
for Chris’ graduation from Parker
Chiropractic College.
(Yea!!!) Two weeks later, school began
again for everyone. This year we only
have four students... Zach is a junior in high school, Tim is in eighth grade,
Titus is in fourth and Drew is a second grader.
During this time, resumes were mailed out, correspondence
and conference calls fielded, trips taken to “try out”. While visiting the Brandi Kendall family on
our way to the San Antonio Christian Film Festival the end of October, Mike
received a call from the Sandstone
Drive congregation in Little Rock, Arkansas,
which turned out to be the turning point in our time back. We visited Sandstone Drive that next Sunday and,
after only twelve days, we were invited to join that work.
Since that time it’s been a whirlwind of reporting trips
and house-hunting trips and re-packing and preparing to move once again. If things go as planned we will move to Little Rock January 3rd. In the meantime we are enjoying our last days
in Texas, and
the wonderful Christmas season. This is
indeed a special time of the year, and it is our prayer that in this holiday season
you are surrounded by loved ones and filled with the joy that comes from
knowing the Word that “became flesh and lived among us.”
As we enter the New Year, may we all be reminded that “he
who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus.”
God bless
you richly now and in the coming year,
The Mike Banks Family
Mike,
Debbie, Chris, Geoff, Jaime, Kari,
Kaci,
Zach, Tim, Ty and Drew
PS – If you‘d like to keep up with us, and receive a
monthly update on the Banks Family, please drop us a note at our e-mail address
mbanks1615@hotmail.com. We’re in the process of making a new mailing
list... THANKS!
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