My eldest daughter Amy has just got back from our first ever London church youth mission – as part of our LoveUkraine compassion ministry to some of Europe’s poorest high in the Carpathian mountains.  They delivered food parcels, did activities with the kids, cleaned up around the base, visited an orphanage, and generally had a great adventure in the safe hands of our awesome team of London mission & youth leaders. (Thanks Carol, Donna, Ovo, Jon & Bernice!)

For the trip Amy needed to take a back-pack, and I mentioned that “I had a two special backpacks in the loft you could try.”  Now generally, dad’s stuff in the loft is simply not cool enough to be of any use to a teenager, but this time there was a cautious “OK lets have a look at them” and I quickly got them down: A red one and a pink one.

I told Amy that that these were very special, dating back to when Ali & I arrived in London in 1993 with “our two backpacks and a vision” – Surprisingly Amy quickly decided that the red one (mine, just in case you thought mine was the pink one!) was acceptable, and spent a few days packing it up for her first mission trip – how proud was I!

I’m so proud of Amy, and so amazed at this incredible journey that started so small with “two backpacks and a vision” all those years ago – Lord help me never to forget not to despise the days of small beginnings – and to be careful what I throw away out of the attic… you never know when it might come in useful (actually, that’s not the point of this story at all is it!?)