There are a number of reasons we have come to England for the next two years. Being able to serve the Lord without pay and without having to spend an enormous amount of money on health insurance being one of them. I am a British citizen by birth, so getting on the National Health was not difficult. Nor was finding a place to stay. Flats are not cheap, and furnished flats are a rarity. However, we had an excellent estate agent in Hannah who showed us one that was most suitable.

Getting a bank account proved to be much more difficult, and in fact as of this writing we still don’t have one, despite having reams of identification and sufficient funds waiting for transfer. We have had to be most inventive in response, using colleagues’ bank cards for purchases and reimbursing them with cash, or transferring money from our ‘overseas’ accounts directly to pay for larger purchases.

It was through a combination of both of these things that we were able to buy and insure a car. It is not a new one. Neither of us have owned a new car since we started our new jobs with one nearly five decades ago. But it is a very nice 10-year-old Ford Fiesta with very low mileage. Thankfully it is also an automatic. These roads are difficult enough at our age without having to negotiate a stick shift lefthanded.

We look forward to being able to travel around now to see this beautiful country, and to spend some time with my family in England who we haven’t seen for ten years. Travel adventure, family connection, service to the God who calls us: these are the things that have brought us to England. A car will help facilitate all three.