Nr.195 ended with: “In 2008 we made a trip to Canada to see how the Lord would lead……….!” (See richardandmarina.net).

There were several reasons for why we were thinking of returning to Canada. Already mentioned was our physical condition, we were really tired, I guess the result of years going in overdrive. Another one was the fact that we did not feel right about being fully financially supported, while we were not able to be as active anymore. On top of that, our health insurance was running out, or in the case of Marina, had already run out. We were with a company in Canada that insured missionaries, but only up to the age of 70, then they were expected to return to Canada and be covered by government insurance. Our church graciously covered the monthly premiums. Staying in Belgium would mean getting private insurance which is very costly. And then, of course, there was our daughter Rosa, who, because of her debilitating illness, has had to be without us, without her sisters and her nieces and nephews for many years. We felt we should be near her now.

We prayed a lot about this and talked to the elders of our church. They were in agreement with our returning to Canada and were ready to give us a letter of commendation for full-time work in Canada. We also asked the advice of good friends who were in accord with our move back. Because of Marina no longer being covered by health insurance and having heart problems, we felt we should go ahead with planning our return. We were at perfect peace about all of this. So we started looking for a place to live and after driving all around Elmira I found a house on a quiet street that was up for sale. The elderly lady who owned the house showed me around and it looked real good. However, the next time I went to see her, there was a note on the door which said that she had changed her mind and was not selling. It was sort of disappointing, but we left it in the Lord’s hands and returned to Belgium.

In April 2009, we received a call from good friends in Elmira telling us that there was a condo for sale in a seniors building, which had 27 condos. Our friends took pictures of the condo and emailed them to us. We thought they looked great and were quite excited, even though some years ago we had visited other friends who were living in that building and I had told Marina afterwards that I would never want to live in a place like that! We really prayed about it and felt perfect peace. After more discussion with our friends there, a few days later I was on a plane to Toronto………….! (Go to Musings).