I kept hearing the name Mark; and I thought it was someone in the church that the Lord wanted me to intercede for. I asked around, and there was no one by that name. The Lord was talking to me; and my middle name is Mark. The Lord led me to the scripture:

Acts 15:37-38 (King James Version)

37 And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.

38 But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

I did the same thing when I left the Bay Area in 2006, to go home to Missouri where my family lived. I've been in the Bay Area for 11 years; after I retiring from the Navy. Mark returned to the Mission field and left with Barnabas. I also returned to the mission field after 9 months at home.