“It will happen suddenly, quicker than the blink-of-an-eye. At the sound of the last trumpet the dead will be raised. We will all be changed, so we will never die again.” (1 Corinthians 15:52 CEV).

Two blinks-of-years have passed since our last furlough. In November of 2019, we said goodbye to our family and mission partners to return to Thailand, just two blinks-of-months before the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that a mysterious new coronavirus-related pneumonia was beginning to explode in Wuhan, China. Two blinks -of-weeks later, 200 people had been infected in China. Two blinks-of-days after that (January 23, 2020), and it was 500. Wuhan and its 11 million people were then locked down in a highly unusual city-wide quarantine. One blinky-week later, 200 total Covid deaths and 9,800 infections worldwide caused the WHO to declare COVID-19 an official public health emergency. Then began the lockdowns and an almost unheard-of loss of liberties and loved ones!

Now our furlough is beginning, and I am grieving the loss of my beloved uncle, Harold Collum Sr. of Keene, Texas, who just passed away from COVID-19. A giant of a man, he was. Strong at 90, but gentle and generous! Always loving and supporting his family, including mine, and our mission work! He often reminded me that he always looked for my article first when he opened an AFM magazine. And his encouraging sign-off sentence before we hung up was usually something like, “Now listen. We love you. Keep up the good work.” To which I would reply, “We will, Uncle Harold. By God’s grace, we will.”

We hoped to see Uncle Harold this furlough, along with all of you who have loved and supported us over the last two blinks-of-decades. But now, we patiently await that “blink of an eye” when we are changed and meet our Lord and Uncle Harold in the clouds. Just a few more blinks. Be Faithful.

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