We arrived in Illinois the day after Christmas to participate in the Urbana Missions Conference. A gathering held every three years by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. The USCWM had a booth there and we were part of the team that put it together and talked with the students about the Center and the Perspectives course (a popular missions class the USCWM originated.) Over twenty thousand college students attended the conference from all over the world. It was a great learning experience for me to talk to each one of them about a place I havent yet worked for and a class I havent yet taken.

While the conference was remarkable, the real story of the trip was at our motel. We stayed at the Travelodge there in Urbana and were treated to a surprise after we checked into our crime scene, I mean room. What we first thought to be burn marks on our curtains turned out to be one huge bloodstain complete with three bullet holes (see exhibit A). The carpet, ceiling, and wall around the window were all replaced or freshly painted, but somehow, management forgot to exchange the soiled curtain for a less bloody one. When asked about it, they claimed to know nothing about the offensive drapery but said they would look into it. On the way home, we had the opportunity to stay in Chicago with

Exhibit A

another newly wed couple on staff at the center for New Years Eve in a FREE suite. It was nice to stay in a blood free room again.