On The Move

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that we have accepted a transfer for next term.  This decision really started with our trip to Kenya.  During our time there, we were able to step back and look at the health of our family.  We were challenged to be willing to make whatever changes necessary to get our family in a healthier place.  As part of this time, we realized that if we were going to have longevity in Africa, we had to make a few changes.  The biggest one was that Ryan's frequent travel into Nigeria would have to stop.  Our children, and especially our boys, struggle a lot when he is there.  When we approached our leadership and asked them to consider letting us adjust our jobs to eliminate Ryan's travel, we fully expected that we would remain in our current location. 

However, we were asked to consider a transfer to another country where Ryan would do the same job that he is currently doing, but his work would all be done in the same country, eliminating the need for so much travel.  There was a significant need in this place and it sounded like a good fit for our family.  We prayed about it, made a trip up there to meet the units we would work with and see the area, and decided that it was where we needed to go next term.   We are all really excited about the move for a variety of reasons.  Here are just a few...

• There is a huge need.  The place where we are going is one of the poorest nations in the world with less than 2% of the population estimated to be Christian.
• The children will have a good school option.  We have loved homeschooling and if we were in the States, we would probably see it through to graduation.  But here in Africa, it can be really, really isolating- for them and for me.  The kids had actually asked us in June if we would consider finding a school option for them.  At that point, boarding school was the most likely option and I was not keen on that.  So, when an accredited MK school in the city that we were asked to move to became an option, we knew we needed to consider it.  It is likely that Abe and I will still school together for a year or more, but the older ones are chomping at the bit to try out "real school."  Ryan and I got to visit the school in August and we were really encouraged by what we saw.
• The mission community.  There is an extensive mission community in the city where we'll live, consisting of folks from a variety of agencies who do a variety of ministries.  When you have teenagers, that's pretty important.  Our current city has offered us very limited community and the folks that we have gotten to know and enjoy live in other parts of the city, where frequent fellowship is not feasible because of the Accra traffic.
• Existing teams.  Ryan and I do support work.  That means that the bulk of our time is spent investing in the ministries of folks who do strategic work.  While we know that helping folks get visas, auto paperwork, and the like is important and necessary, we also embrace opportunities to do ministry with nationals ourselves.  I have struggled a bit with this because of all of the life responsibilities that I face.  I am excited that there are several women there who are doing some neat work and whom I have the potential to team with to be more involved with nationals.  I can't wait to see how the Lord will allow me to invest my time there.

Here are some ways we ask you to pray:

• Language- once again, we are faced with language learning.  The Hausa we learned in Nigeria will come in very handy, but we also need to be able to operate in French, and learn at least some of  another local language called Zarma.  I have a background in classroom French, but I am not conversational.  Ryan has been taking some lessons for about 10 weeks, but we both have a long way to go.
• School- transitioning to school will be a big deal for all of us.  While the kids are thrilled and excited, it is a big change for all of us.
• Rest- we really, really need some refreshment.  We are truly weary and need for our time in the States to be a time of restoration.  We have tried to calendar things in a way that this will be able to happen, but time will tell how that goes.
• Relationships- we are praying even now that God would provide deep and precious relationships with both Africans and other ex-pat folks.  We have had a lonely season here in Accra and we all are praying for friendships and community in our new home.

Okay, now that I've given you some details, do you have any guesses about where we're going?  Here's a picture we took while we were there, does that help?  It's a picture of the house we'll live in in...

Niamey, Niger, Lord willing!