How many posts of mine have started with a similar tone? Well, here is another. Every year goes by so quick. But, praise God, we somehow keep up. The picture above was taken over the Christmas holidays, so you might think it is the most recent pic of the Cookes. In fact, I’ve since shaved my beard (Christmas is over, so the Santa-look is no longer needed), and Michelle had her hair cut (looking young and vibrant as ever). Both Liberty and Van are still growing; it’s a regular occurrence for them to suddenly be standing beside me—do they want advice! A hug! Just to be near their father! No (but yes), it is simply to gauge our respective heights and see if they are finally taller than dad. I have withstood their height attempts thus far, but 2024 might be the year I lose the crown.
Thank you all for praying for us. Our ministry and service touches many lives. In Michelle’s case, the results are often very evident — the students love her and coming to class! I also enjoy seeing the students I teach move on from our one-on-one classes, taking with them the skills, experience, and confidence which they’ve built up over this past semester. Both of us get opportunities too to talk about God and how he moves in our lives.
I might be coming back to Canada in the early Spring! Our support level has remained low. This hasn’t been helped by the fact that we’ve been away for so long, with our only recent visit being last summer, and short at that. We believe if God wants us here longer, he will move people to contribute. This is the WEC mindset in action—enough people know about us, have heard about us, support us already, that out of all those people surely God can move some to contribute financially and partner with us in this specific time and ministry. “WEC doesn’t make appeals for funds”, but we do share the burden and the ministry God has given us. So, I might see you in a few months!
Spring, 2022. Can we say, “we made it”? All around people breath sighs of relief that the pandemic is weakening. Confinement measures are loosening. Where we are, masks are mostly not mandatory. You can now bisou your family, friends, neighbours. It’s been two years. A little more.
2 years ago in a local supermarket
The picture above shows the shelves of a local supermarket at the start of the pandemic. People were scared. They bought out the store, preparing for the worst. Like literally, people felt that the end-of-days was upon us, that roving bands of bandits would soon run amok, law and authority would disintegrate. They were hunkering down in part of because of this fear, but also because the government was soon to ban any unnecessary movement in public. Do you remember those days? We went weeks not being able to leave our home! Only one person per household was allowed to leave the home, and then for only one hour, and then only for a trip with a purpose considered essential. That was usually me — I would get to the supermarket, and scan the shelves for whatever was left and edible.
It was an eerie trip to make. It often reminded me of the time back in Urumqi during the riots in 2009. People were scared. They barricaded themselves in their xiaoqu’s, arming themselves with poles, sticks, axes, long knives, pulverizing hammers… Whenever I had to go out, I had to be incredibly careful because I could be mistaken as a potential threat (because I was not Chinese). Fortunately, we had lived there long enough that, as I approached a milling crowd full of nervous armed people eyeing me, someone could shout out, “He’s ok, he’s a foreigner in our xiaoqu!” and everyone would exhale and let me pass. Who was the enemy?
The past two years the enemy has been the virus. Sometimes though we let each other become the enemy too. “Who’s infected? Who’s not being careful enough? Who’s making choices I don’t agree with?” Finally. Finally, we are past the worst, on the outside. I think many of us still need to address the worst inside of us. That’s not a bad thing. Lots of bad things happened, and it was hard, and how were we to react?
Both my parents died while I was overseas, and I could not be there with them to see them onward. They and I were ready for that possibility. For years now, when we would say bye at the airport, we would acknowledge that this might be “Good Bye”. The first time we said “Good Bye” like that was really tough — maybe it was when I left as a married man. It was tougher when we left with their grandchildren. But we would never ignore what might happen, and we would tell each other what we needed to say, just in case. So our goodbyes tended to be pretty intense. But fulfilling. So not being there when the worst did come to pass was incredibly difficult. But we had already said goodbye, too. How can I say more? My tears suffice.
OK, so the title of the post hints at something positive, and I’ve somehow wandered into moroseness! Let me share. When you agree to follow God, you really never know what might be around the corner. Our years here in France are coming to a close. We’ve all learned French (some of us better than others). We’ve helped the local church as best we can. We’ve made a positive impact on the people around us. But we have reached a turn in the road. This turn points northeast of us, to a region in southwest Germany known as the Black Forest. In the Black Forest, where there are no bears, is a small town, with a bustling school. The town is called Kandern, and the school, Black Forest Academy. Over this past year God moved us to consider enrolling our kids there; this would necessitate Michelle and I either sending the kids as boarders, or applying to serve there. So we did what of course we would do! We applied to serve!
Recently, we finished the application process for all four of us, and received word back that we had all been accepted! We hadn’t shared much during this process as we wanted to be sure what their response would be before telling everyone. Well, what does this mean? It means that we will be moving to Kandern, Germany, later this summer to begin a new chapter of our overseas life at BFA. Michelle will be teaching elementary. I will be teaching slightly older grades with ELL as a focus. Liberty and Van will have a new English-speaking environment to thrive in, filled with children who, like themselves, have already lived in various and diverse places and situations. And staffed by teachers who care for the well-being of the students.
So. Something new on the horizon. Looking back, that horizon is rather bleak and grey. Looking ahead, the horizon looks colourful and promising. Thank you for your continued prayers, support, friendship, emails, letters, pics! Every contact with you is a blessing.
You wouldn’t believe it. If we had known what was in store for Michelle before her journey back to North America… we may have opted out! But praise to God for his calming presence, Michelle persevered through many obstacles to reach home. Here is the itinerary we expected, followed by what happened:
Air France:
Feb 27: Biarritz BIQ to Paris ORY airport, followed by a cross-town bus to get to the next airport Paris CDG. She had 4 hours to do this, which should be enough time.
Paris CDG to Montreal, with a 2 hour layover.
Montreal to Toronto, arriving at midnight Feb 27/28.
A 5 hour stay at the airport (it’s too short a stay to pay for a hotel)
American Air:
Feb 28 6 am flight from Toronto to Dallas DFW, arriving at 9 am
Dallas DFW to Tyler TYR, arriving at 11 am, Feb 28. Easy peasy.
It started at the airport here in Biarritz. Michelle checked in the night before, then received an email that her flight was delayed. So we made a call and the agent on the phone told Michelle she was booked on a slightly later flight. That would work but Michelle would have one hour less to make the cross-Paris trip to change airports. We went to bed a little worried.
When we arrived at the Biarritz airport the fun started! Michelle was informed that she not in fact booked on the next flight but was placed on standby only. Well, that wouldn’t work! We explained how she had a connecting flight to Toronto from Paris, and if she missed this first flight she’d miss the Toronto flight, which in turn would make her miss the Dallas flight. The agent was surprisingly calm and kind and began to look for other options. These included taking a taxi from Biarritz to Bordeaux where she could make it to Paris in time for a later flight from Paris to Toronto, but she’d still miss the Dallas leg, and she’d still be on standby at Bordeaux, thus potentially not getting ont he flight AND being stuck in Bordeaux; leaving in an hour for a multi-city journey around France, getting her to Paris again in time for a later flight but once again too late for the American Air flight to Dallas. It wasn’t looking good. Michelle needed to get to Paris to get that one flight.
Suddenly, I wondered if trains were running. The flight cancellations and delays were due to a storm, but maybe trains would be running. I checked and there was one train, leaving in 45 minutes, that would get Michelle to Paris in time for the original Paris-Montreal-Toronto flight. So we asked the agent to confirm that Michelle could skip the Biarritz leg, take the train, and still be able to take the Paris flight. Normally, this isn’t possible. But the agent got on the phone, talked awhile as we kept looking at the time. then, she typed something into her terminal, and handed Michelle a boarding pass for her Paris flight! Michelle could skip BIQ-ORY, as long as she made it to Paris in time for the flight! Amazing! So we raced to the bus stop and hopped on the bus going to the train station downtown.
A bus has never felt so slow. But we were blessed by technology – the France train system has a mobile app, so while we sat on the bus we bought a train ticket for Michelle. Thank God for that because by the time we got to the station the lineup to buy tickets was really long, and she had 10 minutes to spare. We find her track, stand there breathlessly, and thank God for this option. The train pulls up, Michelle hops on after we pray for her, and off she went, thinking the worst was over. In four hours she would be in Paris.
Michelle on the train to Paris
Michelle got to Paris fine, and took the metro to the CDG airport. It didn’t seem to crazy, and her flight even departed on time. But then later I looked online…. what…. her flight from Montreal to Toronto… CANCELLED???
Sure enough, due to the huge winter storm in Ontario airports were canceling flights left and right. And the worst was that Michelle had no clue! Well, she did a little before landing. She landed in Montreal around 9 pm Feb 27, and amazingly she was met by an Air France agent at the gate. Michelle was one of the few with connecting flights, and Air France was working hard to help those passengers. They put her up in a hotel, paid for her dinner and breakfast, and generally were so helpeful. Except for the agents on the phone, again. Michelle was being given options such as staying in Montreal all weekend, or flying to other cities before Toronto, but days later. This was terrible because missing the flight to Dallas would basically mean she would have to skip her Texas visit. It would simply be too expensive to buy another flight now. Suddenly, an email arrives saying her American Air flight from Toronto to Dallas was delayed, also because of the storm, and so we could change the Dallas-Tyler leg for free. Wow. Ok, but first we had to get her to Dallas. After more time on the phone it was clear there were no options. All Michelle could do was go to bed.
The next morning, early, Michelle gets up, eats a good breakfast, and calls from her hotel to the AA number. MIRACLES! In the middle of the night a huge Dreamliner from London to Toronto had to land in Montreal. The weather had cleared enough that that huge plane was going to be able to leave early. Michelle could get on it if she wanted. YES YES YES! It was so big it could take the equivalent of three other planes’ worth of passengers. Everyone who made it on board was cheering and happy. They made it to Toronto!
Now, remember, the AA flight was also delayed, so Michelle went to the desk to try to work something out. She was told there was no option to get her to Dallas that day. Strange. So I go online and find a flight leaving from Toronto to Chicago to Dallas… could she not get on that? It was the ONLY flight to Dallas from Toronto that we could find that would get her to Dallas in time for the last Tyler flight. She asks the agent and they tell her yes, they had thought she wanted a direct flight. Because it was a delay that the airline made there was no charge to go through Chicago, and we could then change the DFW-TYR flight to 9 pm without any charge. Shortly after, Michelle was back in the air. Phew. What a roller coaster of emotion.
There was a scare that the plane would for Chicago would be delayed, but in the end it left early. And got to Dallas early, and so Michelle could have a breather. She hadn’t slept nor really eaten in 24 hours. But knowing she was close to seeing her parents and sister gave her strength. Sure enough, she landed in Tyler (a city close to where her parents live) at 11 pm. Only 12 hours later than the original plan. Oh, but what a whirlwind!
As you know, we heard from the school who invited us to still come teach. We enjoyed a flurry of email from them, including one which had an Excel file with my teaching schedule. Since then the email levels have dropped back to 0. That is fine. What is important is that they actually sent the LOI to the visa company in Vancouver. The agent in turn confirmed that the LOI they received was actually correct! So on that side things are looking good. We refrained from sending our precious passports, photos, application forms, and other documents (like birth and marriage certificates) until we could receive confirmation about the above two “actually’s”. So we sent out our share of documents this week and they are due in Vancouver, to the same company, by Thursday. We paid extra for Express processing, so we figure we will get our passports with the China visas around April 4.
Until we get word that the applications were successfully submitted, we are holding off buying tickets, or cancelling our 6-month apartment rental contract. Once we know the visas have been issued and are on their way back to Chiang Mai, we will then prepare to leave.
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Happy birthday to Liberty, who turned 9 on March 16. We are so very proud of her and how she has grown. Her brother was such a support too all day, not once getting jealous of her gifts and such. We started the day with a great big breakfast that Michelle prepared. During breakfast Liberty opened one gift: Books! Homeschool was not cancelled so off the kids went with Michelle to study.
They were finished by 11:45, so we went off to have a special lunch at a hotpot+sushi buffet, a meal Liberty specifically asked to do. She really like the carousel-style food delivery, and had great fun grabbing that plate or this plate.
After lunch we then went to a screening of Kungfu Panda 3, in English. It was quite funny, but we will need to talk about what this ‘qi’ idea.
We were still full from lunch after the movie so we went home for a quick swim. Before we did Liberty opened her next gift: A battery operated swimming sea turtle, perfect for the pool. We swam until 5, then headed out to Liberty’s favourite spot, the Boat. While we were eating Liberty opened her next gift: a Shopkins girl! Yeah, we might be on the other side of the planet but some things are global,
By the time we were finished dinner it was almost bedtime so we all piled onto the motorbike and went for a little cruise. Once we got home it was time for the final gift: a robot dog! But, gasp, it didn’t work. Liberty didn’t let it get her spirits down; she was thankful for all the gifts and all that God has given her.
Hard to believe we will have a double-digit age kid next year.
