4 Things You Should Know About Returning Missionaries (or at least us)

On this departure day, here are 4 things to consider.....


1. We are not tan. Yes, we live in Africa. In fact, we live on the equator! But contrary to popular belief, Africa is not always hot. Currently it is "Winter" here and about 50 degrees. Not too bad for winter, I realize, but it is 50 degrees everywhere - in the classroom, in the house, everywhere! We are bundled up in whatever we can find - hoodies, jackets, blankets, you name it. So, sun-tanning is definitely not on the agenda and when we return to Michigan this summer we will be pasty white.

2. We might act a little crazy sometimes.  The last time we were in Michigan, Megan was 5 years old. We stopped a rest stop on the way home from the airport. As Megan approached the door, it automatically opened. She shrieked and yelled across the parking lot, "Mom and Dad, the door opens by itself!" to the amusement of the bystanders. Her gleeful exclamations continued for weeks, proclaiming how white the eggs where, how soft the bread was, and how many parks there were in one town. And who knows? It has been 4 years, so I just might be jumping up and down in the aisle of the grocery store shouting, "They have Cheerios!"

3. We may be a bit fragile. This is the first time we have transitioned with all 5 of us quite aware of our emotions. The last time we came back to the US, the kids were along for the ride. This time they are going through all the emotions that we are - excitement, grief, anticipation, sadness, fear, anxiety, and hope. We have a lot of feelings swirling around this house right now and expect that to continue in the months ahead. A friend of mine commented that as far as numbers on the stress scale scale go, moving our family half way around the world may qualify right near the top. We might be a little fragile in the emotional department...

4. We are not perfect. I don't know who invented the idea that missionaries are holy and perfect, but that is not true. We are just like anyone else, except we have a few more stamps in our passport. Our kids are just like yours, except they have been on a few more airplanes. We don't sit around and discuss theology all day.We have good days and bad.  We long to have a good marriage and be awesome parents, but have to work hard at both. You don't have to tiptoe around us - wondering if what you say will offend us. We are all sinners in need of a Savior - every day. 


See you on the other side! Pray for safe travels for us today!

Good-Bye Walk

Today we took a good-bye walk for the kids to say farewell to all their favorite people, places, and pets.

Yup, my kids are grubbers. We are definitely ready for furlough! :)

Posing by the beautiful landscaping.

Saying Good bye to Mr. Dahlman (and then the kids promptly crossed his name off the list - in front of him! - Oh my)

Bye Bye Friends....

And Lyndsey's favorite dog, Max....

Good -bye to teachers

And special people in our lives...

And Zoe, our neighbor's dog!

We had a few more names on the list and then ran out of time (and the kids had more dirt piles to jump in!) but we are thankful for the good-bye walk today. I know the kids will treasure these people, places and pets in their hearts next year. 

Caring Community

One of our highlights at RVA has been the Caring Community program. It began years ago, in effort to place students in small groups in staff homes. Yes, we teach the students every day and we have them in our dorms  but those are still large group settings. Caring Community takes about 6 or 8 students and places them in a group that meets monthly in a staff home. During that year, relationships are built at a deeper level. And another bonus? It is just fun time - no homework, no chores, just food and fun!

This year was one of my favorite groups ever. Actually, it is the same group we had last year, which rarely happens, but we and the students both loved the dynamics so much we requested one another again! We also had an all boys group (usually they are mixed) and I think it helped to fill the hole we had by leaving a boys dorm 2 years ago. We have had a blast with this group of boys! We love to eat, laugh and tell stories. There is no need to plan anything fancy with this group since they just love to hang out. Our kids love it too - they play games with the boys and Ian will even pull out his light sabers for a friendly fight. We will miss these great guys next year!

Living Like a Square Peg

As we prepare for our upcoming home assignment we are more and more shifting our thinking toward our destination.  The more I think about picking up our family and relocating to a "foreign" country the more I feel like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole.  Let me give you just one of the more recent examples of what I'm talking about.  How would you answer the following questions?

1. What is your current address?
2. What was your previous address?
3. Phone number?
4. Monthly Income?
5. Do you own a car?
6. What is your employer's address?

Pretty straight forward right?  No trick questions.  Nothing too difficult.  Nothing to ponder.  It might take you all of 3 minutes to answer all six questions.  Well not true for me.  Recently we had to fill out an application for prospective housing it took me almost 30 minutes to fill it out.  Sounds crazy I know.  Let me give you a peek into the thought process that went into answering these questions. 

1. What is your current address?
   Hummm do they mean my current address in Kenya?  If so its a PO Box, we don't have a physical address.  I could give them the physical address that we all use for the school (which is completely fictitious, but it makes people feel better than when they see a PO Box.) Maybe they want my "permenant" address in the US.  But is really my parents' address not mine, I don't live there.  I know, how about the mission headquarters address?  Wait, that's in Georgia, I'm applying for housing in Michigan, that might look weird.  I'll come back to this question.
2. What was your previous address?
   Do they mean my last address from last furlough or that last house we lived in before we came out to the field? That was 11 years ago.  We did move houses at the school but the address is the same PO Box regardless.  Oh, the mission headquarters moved from New York to Georgia I could use the old New York address. Or I could use my "permanent" address again but that would be that answer as the first question.  I'll come back to this question.
3. Phone number?
   My Kenyan phone number?  Land line or mobile?  The land line works some times but the mobile is more expensive to call.  Do I just write it the number as it is or do I write exactly what they need to dial from the US to Kenya? What do you dial from the US to call internationally anyway?  Do I give them a local number of a family member?  What if they call the number? I better call my parents and tell them what to say if someone calls.  What should they say? I'll come back to this question.
4. Monthly Income?
   My what?  Oh, how about my monthly support target that we are trying to raise?  We haven't seen that for quite some time though.  How about the amount that came in last month?  Well it's different from month to month.  I know, our monthly living expense.  No that changes from month to month too.  How much should it be? I'll come back.
5. Do you own a car?
   Yes.  Wait, but it's in Kenya, so I won't have it in the States.  A couple people said we could borrow their car for the year but I technically don't own them. Hmmm I'll come back.
6. What is your employer's address?
   Oh I know this one.  PO Box 80..... oh no its a PO Box again.  Should I use the school address?  Or the fake physical one?  Then it might be same as my current address in question 1.  It looks like I live at work.  Oh wait I do live at work.  That looks weird will they understand the situation? I could use the Mission's address in Georgia.  That looks even more weird.  I live in Michigan or Kenya (depending on how I answer #1) and work in Georgia.  If I want to get technical, my employer is African Inland Mission Intl. which is headquartered in England. So now I live in Kenya with and address in Michigan but work for someone in England.  Yeah this application is getting denied for sure.  I'll come back.

I often say "We live a crazy life!" and after things like this I am convinced even more....we are NOT NORMAL PEOPLE. Who else can be stumped by the most basic question in life, "where are you from?" We are left stammering and stuttering for the answer. Sometimes we just feel like we are living like a square peg. We don't fit into any mold. It is a crazy life indeed. But I wouldn't trade it.

Korean Food

We love trying new foods out here. Who would have guessed, though, that we would be eating tons of Korean food in Kenya? We have a large percentage of Korean students at RVA as their parents are missionaries all over the continent. So, we have learned to love Korean food! When we used to be dorm parents, our dorm boys would make Korean food and give us tutorials. Now, our whole family loves it!

Now I am teaching Advanced Cooking and one week is designated "International Dishes." I think this is hilarious, since in this multi-cultural context, one has to ask themselves, "What is international?" My Kenyan students think hamburgers are ethnic food, and my Danish students make food that is familiar to them, but I would categorize it as international. So we just have fun making dishes from all over the world that week. We made Asian, South American, Indian, and of course Korean food that week. As a grand finale of the week, one of our staff members, who also happens to be Korean, came in and taught the kids how to make Kim-bap, the Korean version of sushi rolls. They were amazing!

100 Cups of Tea

One of the privileges of working at RVA is the relationships we build with students. I have enjoyed mentoring different girls over the years and this year is no exception. I am meeting with a girl who was in my Sunday School class last year and when the year was over we continued meeting weekly for prayer and accountability. She is a sweet girl and many weeks, she encourages me as much as I hope that I encourage her!

Every week we meet over a cup of tea and talk about life, friends, school, family and most importantly how God is sovereign over all of these things.

Next year she is graduating, but we will miss her graduation since we will be in the US, so these are my final weeks... and final cups of tea with her. I am thankful for the 100 cups of tea we have shared!

2 cups of tea...

a special girls outing (Megan is taking the picture!)

The Best Kids in the World!

Eleven years ago (has it really been that long?) when we first came to RVA as new staff, we attended new staff orientation, where the dean of students led the new dorm parents' workshop. He mentioned, "We get to work with the best kids in the world here at RVA!"

And I can honestly say that's been true for us! Now, our students are not perfect. In fact, since Jeff is dean of students (and thus, handles discipline) he can attest to that. But they are good kids. And fun kids. And awesome kids!

We are so blessed to get to work with these students day in and day out. Teaching, mentoring, coaching, and just hanging out with the kids....

And this time of year, as they all scatter around the world after graduation (which is one month away for us) they are all headed to amazing places - many to the USA, but some to Europe, South Africa, Korea and other countries. Not only that, we have students being accepted to universities like Yale, Princeton and Harvard. Our little school on the edge of the great Rift Valley is starting to make a name for itself and universities are realizing what we have known all along.....that these are some of the best kids in the world!

The bulletin board showing where all our seniors are going next year.

So proud of our kids!