ln an effort to have what is described in the Louisville Sabbatical Grant for Pastoral Leaders as a "sustained period of time for rest, renewal and reflective engagement with my life and work". l will take a three month time for travel, renewing friendships, making new friends, and fulfilling dreams.

ln the first month I will travel to Western India and Africa. I will experience the culture and the people. I have so much to learn about how most of the world lives and how they experience their world. I have friends in India who have long desired that I visit them in their unique context of ministry. Likewise I have friends in Kenya who have invited me to visit them during the Easter season. Both these visits will be completely new for me. New will be refreshing, eye-opening, and maybe even heartbreaking.

The next two weeks, my wife will join me, and we will tour the British Isles. We have long dreamed of such a trip and will thoroughly enjoy the time together, seeing new sights, visiting friends, and soaking up the history and culture.

The final six weeks will be at home in the States. This will be a time of reflecting, recuperating, retreat, writing, and simply catching up on things around home.