Randy and Katy Smelser

Americans living in Germany but citizens of heaven

Family Reunions

January was a month of Family Reunions - 2 to be exact.

img_0775
On January 9 one of our Syrians was reunited with his wife and 2 kids. We drove up to Hamburg to pick them up at 6 am. They flew from Beirut, Lebanon direct to Hamburg, Germany. It was such a relief, especially for the father, after many months of waiting, fear and trembling. The trip to Beirut for her was not easy. Besides the border crossing, she had 16 check points to cross, every one with greasing the palms. She had to go to the Germany Consulate there for an interview and then again to get the stamps and fly. We do not know all that she had been through before that but what we know is enough to make us a bit queasy. Just this week in their city 2 little boys went missing. Rival group kidnap the family members of enemies. The father had had this great fear for months.

The other reunion was when Katy and I flew back to the States for 2 weeks of vacation with our parents. We were happy to see how well they are doing and thoroughly enjoyed the time just with them. It was also nice to visit Florida and East Tenn. in the winter. The sun and warmth was great.img_0800
For more pictures of our Florida/E.Tenn trip or our work with refugees click on our picture or go to Our Albums