Sakhalin airport is very small and it does feel quite parochial, climbing down the steps of the plane to the tarmac, hand luggage clutched tightly under one arm as the other is busy ensuring your stability on the rickety staircase, pushing onto a crowded bus and getting dropped of at the immigration desk where you wait for everyone from business class to be processed before you are- but your laughter will quickly die down when you see the unblinking eyes, stilletos and gruff commands from the woman wearing a khaki suit and possibly holding a gun.
Keep your eyes cast down and pray they won't send you back to Seoul on the plane you just 'disembarked' from.
But we were there to meet them- the Harrisons and me. I'd last seen mum (and Frank and Dave) in November, 6 months before. But for the Harrisons, it had been over 12 months since having face-to-face contact with visitors from home. Very exciting.
They brought a LOT of luggage with them, and left with very little. The purpose of their trip was to encourage us, see what we do, how we live, and give us some good and Godly advice and support. The short 10 days they spent here was jam-packed full of talking and tears, jokes and laughter, sleet, sunshine, snow and mist- they left us with new ideas, fresh vision, encouraged and supported and loved. What a team! What a taste of things to come!
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