Leaving Gambela...

We have now left Gambela…for good. Saying goodbye to the folks we have come to love dearly ranks as one of the most difficult things we have ever done in our lives up to this point…but we knew we simply could not stay any longer. My heart and my head just could not cope with the extreme weather.

We are in Cape Town for the present time staying with family. While this is meant to be a time of rest, relaxation, and recovery, it is also a time of prayerful discernment as we seek the Lord’s will regarding our future.

I simply have to get my health back on track again…that is priority…otherwise I won’t mean much to any mission. So, I will be seeing my doctors this week, working on a heart healthy diet, and getting this body back into shape again with an emphasis on cardio-vascular exercises. My sister-in-law has promised keep me true to the exercise challenge as long as I keep her true to the (rather strict) diet! Mike and Marianne are such an encouragement to us…what would do without their very real and tangible support? Of course the Queen is overjoyed that we are here…ah, however did I earn such love from my dear mother-in-law?

We will also be chatting with the “Growing the Church” (see here: http://www.growingthechurch.org.za/site/home.aspx) leadership while we are here to see if we are able to discern a call to work together in the future. SAMS-USA Missionaries Wayne and Nicole Curtis work with them and Fr Trevor Pierce came to the Christian Barnard Hospital to pray with and for us when I had my heart surgery…we have always sensed a strong bond between us, so we just need to find our what the Lord has in mind.

We are trying to read up as much about the Cape Area as possible so that can become reacquainted with it…much has changed since we were here in seminary at George Whitefield College in 1992! One book I am finding very interesting is called “Gang Town” (see here, although they only seem to have the Kindle edition https://www.amazon.com/Gang-Town-Don-Pinnock-ebook/dp/B01DMDBPEG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1479109213&sr=1-1&keywords=gang+town) about the two sides of the city of Cape Town. If we are going to grow the church, then the marginalised must surely be part of the equation, right? I am also reading two books by Mark Batterson…The Circle Maker and the Grave Robber…actually I am rereading the latter. Good books to read now as we contemplate the future…we are asking great things from a great God.

Thank you for your on-going prayers and for your unbelievable support! So many have told us that they support us as people and not the project and that has meant so much to us, you cannot even begin to imagine! To know that we are not simply commodities to be spent is so encouraging…ah, but that’s what friends and family are for, right?

We have come through a rather dark valley…but we are sensing the light. Walk with us into His brightness…