Looking Back at January

Parent's visit and Trip to Azerbaijan:
Anneke’s parents came to visit us on the 5th of December. It was wonderful to have them here and to hear from them their thoughts concerning Ukraine and how things have changed since they were last here. They served in Ukraine as missionaries from 2001 till 2004 (this is how I met Anneke). They were obviously happy to see Mikael and to spend time with him. Anneke’s mom stayed for a month and Anneke’s dad stayed for three weeks since he was taking a trip to Azerbaijan (a country on the Caspian sea, which borders with Iran on the south) to explore ministry opportunities. His heart is with the Jewish people and the area he was planning on exploring was the Northern Part of the country which has around 30 000 of so called mountain Jews, who started moving there about 2500 years ago. Anneke’s dad asked me to join him on this trip and help out there. So I did. However, the trip did not work out the way we were hoping it would. As we arrived to Azerbaijan on the 26th of December, Anneke’s dad was deported. Few months before we came the regulations for South Africans entering Azerbaijan have changed, which we were unaware off. Not only was he refused to enter the country, but his passport was taken away and he was treated as a criminal. My father in law asked me to stay and go through with the trip. His former ministry colleague from the times of service in Ukraine joined me the day after we arrived. So, those turn out to be busy days of exploring ministry opportunities, building bridges with people and learning how to trust God more. It was a very draining trip and I got back exhausted.