FOWLERS’ UPDATE FOR NOVEMBER 2016

Our deepest apologies for being so late to announce our safe arrival in the States. Upon arrival our first task was to get rested from the jet lag and this hung on for a week, coupled with getting our computer connected with the Internet.

In fact, on 8 November Harold and Enid took the leap and landed safe and sound in Denver. It was painful as we said sad goodbyes to Europe and to our brethren and dear friends there, and flew to the States. But it was not all sadness, because we are beginning to make contact with you, our friends in the States. Some of you are old friends for many years, and this is encouraging. You prayed with us through many a hardship and rejoiced with us when victory came. Our Italian brothers and sisters of many years did not want us to leave, but acceded to the inevitable by turning us over to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Shipping our goods

May we ask you to join us in earnest prayer for this phase of our move? We are still struggling to complete the paperwork. It is most frustrating because the shipping company has just now provided some of the vital documents– weeks after we requested service. We are under some psychological pressure to get this completed, and the task is made difficult by Harold’s Parkinson’s sickness.

 At almost the last minute, we were packing to ship most of our household goods (less the furniture). These will see a bit of England and the Panama Canal before going on to Los Angeles and trucked overland to Colorado! (Don’t ask about the logic of this routing.) With some difficulty we succeeded in selling some of our furniture, or by sharing it with folks in the church. We sold our car to a Nigerian brother, and some kitchen items like a stove and refrigerator. Thanks for praying with us about our piano: it went to brethren in Florence, who can make good use of it!

We are especially grateful to the Italian folk who gave sacrificially of their time and fantastic muscle-power to help us catch the plane, even after we left for the States. You should have seen one brother who practically put on a spectacular show of his youth and strength by hauling over 100 heavy book boxes from our first-floor apartment to the basement — alone and on the run! We thank the ladies who functioned as a work force cleaning crew.

The last big news about Matelica is the earthquake that was roaring through counties in our area. Many people, who were unhurt physically, were terrified, thoroughly shaken by the quakes. They were so terrified that they preferred sleeping in their cars and not in their houses. Near us was an extinct volcano that is a factor in the creaking geological faults.

A God Thing

We rolled into the Rome airport with four suitcases and two in-cabin trollies. The friendly ticket agent said, “This is going to cost you something” and we answered, “That’s okay; we calculated that in the price of the tickets.” He asked us questions about our living in Italy and seemed very interested in our Christian work there. But when we finished the check-in formalities, he began sending us on our way. Puzzled, Harold asked: “When do we pay the overweight?” The ticket agent answered, “No charge for the over weight luggage; have a good day!” Whatever his reasons, he acted as God’s agent to get us through a potentially expensive moment.

Another, less evident “God thing,” was the flight itself: we enjoyed the use of wheelchairs in the airports without a glitch. This is a privilege available for the elderly, and the Lord provided it. Harold even got to sleep on the plane! No small blessing there.

Getting settled

Our wonderful kids (Carrie, Linda, Malcolm, Stuart, Lisa and Roberta) have gone all-out to smooth our transition into American life. Because of great distances in American cities to travel even for simple things like groceries, we almost have to acquire an automobile to get around. Currently we are settling for a few months in Colorado Springs with our eldest, Carrie. Eventually we hope to get around to all of our kids.

Our e-mail address remains the same: hrldfowler@yahoo.com

Our cellphone number is 719-684-6441

Carrie’s cellphone is 719-233-6462 

Again we are so grateful for your joining us in prayer to the Father for us. Like Paul, we too want to pray for you every time we remember you.

Love from both of us.

Harold and Enid Fowler