Last Tuesday night, we left Fresno, California for points east. Our trailer had been at home on the Truth Tabernacle parking lot for over three months. We are rarely in one place so long. So, in addition to tying up loose ends, we had to reorganize and pack the trailer for travel. (This prevents a jar of honey from breaking or, as happened to another evangelist, bleach from spilling all over the carpet.) About 5:00 p.m. we were finally ready to go, leaving behind friends, good memories...and the RV's water regulator.
South we traveled uneventfully, skirting Edwards Air Force Base and San Bernardino. We boondocked (RV jargon for dry camping) in a McDonald's parking lot beside an outlet mall to the east of Palm Springs. We planned to stay in the area of couple of days and visit with the Azars, frends who were vacationing nearby.
I spent a couple of hours checking online for an RV park to stay at. Some of the RV parks prohibit anyone under the age of 55 from staying there. Others were out of our price range. $50.00+ to park a trailer?! We are members of Passport America, a 50% discount RV club. But wouldn't you know it? The parks don't honor the discount this time of year, since winter months are peak season. And even if the rates weren't so high, there weren't many sites available anyway. One of the reasons we have been able to stay on the evangelistic field so long is because we are fairly frugal. Not knowing how long we would be in the area, we were unwilling to commit to $50.00+ a night. So we trashed Plan A and moved on to Plan B.
Bill called the local pastor, whom he had never met. This is something we rarely do, but we were between a rock and a hard place. We needed a place to park our RV, and a church parking lot would do the trick, or so we thought. Pastor Jose Quintana agreed to help us, also asking Bill to preach Sunday morning and minister to the church leaders at their annual planning session.
We arrived at the church, which is a "storefront." We waited for Pastor Quintana, a home missionary, since we did not know exactly where to park. After he arrived, we jockeyed the RV into a driveway. But the other tenant of the building - a furniture dealer - told him he was expecting deliveries during the weekend and that we could not block the driveway. So much for Plan B.
Pastor Quintana presented Plan C. Maybe we could park our RV in the cul-de-sac near his home overnight. This sounded reasonable, since there was a service scheduled that night and we were running out of time. We had to stay somewhere and our options were certainly slimming down. In the course of the conversation, we found out that Pastor Quintana lives in a country club. We'd never before stayed on the edge of a golf course. There's a first time for everything!
After about a 25-minute drive, Bill jockeyed the RV into position again, the men ran electric and water lines from the house to the trailer, I took a shower in the Quintanas' home, we ate a quick dinner with them, Bill hurriedly changed clothes, we jumped in the Quintanas' car, and rode 25 minutes back to the storefront church. Never a dull moment!
The next morning, as I'd suspected, the Homeowners Association of the country club said that we needed to move along. Pastor Quintana called the nearest RV park. $55.00 or bust. We chose to bust. Since the leadership retreat was going to be at a camp and conference center that had RV hookups, Pastor Quintana made arrangements for us to stay there.
Up we went, from the hot desert floor of the greater Palm Springs area to the mile-high village of Idyllwild. Back and forth, up and down. Mountainside switchbacks can be nervewracking in a car. Put a cumbersome 33-foot fifth-wheel on the back of a pickup truck and it can become downright frightening. Typically, I am not a person who worries about things. But when we finally arrived at the top of the mountain, I discovered that my neck muscles were way too tight. I told Bill that while I was a bundle of nerves, he had nerves of steel. All I'd been able to think about was my little house being subjected to such dangers. When we passed an accident scene and I watched a guy walking around his smashed-up car, my anxiety intensified. Needless to say, I failed at my usual approach of taking things in stride. But - nerves or not - Plan D was a success.
We enjoyed the leadership retreat. At Pastor Quintana's request, Bill spoke about discipleship Friday night and Saturday morning. It was fun to get to know some of the folks from the Pentecostals of the Desert. They are a great group of people, truly concerned about the needs of others.
Sunday morning, we met with Shadi, Ibtissam, and their two children in their Palm Desert hotel room. We first met the Azars when we were working in Jordan in 2009. They are both Jordanian, although they have been living and working in the United States for several years now. Shadi said that Palm Springs reminded him of Aqaba, a city in southern Jordan located on the northern tip of the Red Sea. The palm trees, the mountains, and even the weather all resemble that area of Jordan.
Although it can be really challenging, we believe that our last two AIM appointments were productive. There is something almost addictive about working outside of all that is familiar and comfortable. Recently, I was talking to Dianne Showalter on the phone. She and her husband have been missionaries for many years. She echoed what I have heard from others: Once you are exposed to the great need, you are never the same. In America, there is also great need but there are many laborers and potential laborers that simply need to be motivated to work. In many other places, there is a dearth of capable workers. In addition to knowing that we are doing something eternally important, I think that the sacrifices we must make when we work overseas make the results of our labor taste even sweeter!
It is rare that we are able to spend time with people that we met in the Middle East, and I always enjoy those times. Sometimes, when I talk to people about things I learned and experienced in the Middle East, they look at me blankly and change the conversation as soon as possible. They simply have no point of reference to understand what I am saying. So, most of the time, I keep those thoughts to myself. But, though the time we had with them was brief, it was nice to be able to talk to Shadi and Ibtissam about Husn and Aqaba, and tea and traffic!
Shadi and Ibtissam joined us for the 11:00 a.m. service. Bill asked Shadi to share his testimony with the group and it coincided beautifully with the rest of the service. We dropped them off at the nearby Palm Springs Airport. Our time together was short but wonderful. Ibtissam has been giving me Arabic lessons over the phone and Skype. She is a patient teacher, considering that I am not a fast learner when it comes to languages. We thought it was super that we were able to get together again. Who would have thought that we would reconnect in southern California!
After doing a little grocery shopping, we headed back up the mountain, exchanging palm trees for pine trees. The full moon illuminated the desert landscape, providing the perfect ending to a great weekend. The Quintanas deserve medals of honor for their instant and accommodating hospitality. They are sweet and humble people. In spite of all the confusion, we made some good memories, were able to contribute to the Kingdom, made some new friends...and got the bonus of "camping out" at Idyllwild Pines Camp and Conference Center, next to gurgling Strawberry Creek, in the middle of the San Jacinto Mountains.
If I can just keep from thinking about the inevitable descent, I will be okay. After all, what goes up must come down!
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