We arrived August 30 in our new country and dove right in. Honestly, things have mostly gone much smoother than we anticipated! We have an apartment that is restful and will give us space to share with others living in this city and visitors who come. We are in the process of going to lots of little government offices, stocking an apartment with furniture and all the things you need to live and just started back (a little) to language.
Continue reading “GRATEFUL FIRST STEPS”
Sometimes it’s good to celebrate the milestones in a journey. My (Amber’s) Dad just finished his chemo and radiation treatment yesterday! This isn’t the end of his cancer journey, but we are seeing more and more the value of celebrating each step.
Continue reading “CHEER SOMEONE ON TODAY”
“I really wish you an ever deeper peace. I know that peace quite often lives underneath the turmoils and anxieties of our hearts and doesn’t always mean inner harmony or emotional tranquility. That peace that God gives us quite often is beyond our thoughts and feelings, and we have to really trust that peace is there for us to claim even in the midst of our moments of despair.”
Henri Nouwen
God’s timing isn’t always ours and we’re getting good lessons in that these days. In case you don’t get our emails, we just wanted to share an update here. We are delayed a little further due to COVID in our travels and were not able to travel on August 1 like we’d planned. We are hoping we can travel soon, but are keeping plenty busy here in the meantime.
Continue reading “COVID CHRONICLES CONTINUE”
Our tickets are re-purchased and we are eagerly anticipating our departure on August 1! We are excited, a bit overwhelmed, and trying to wrap our brains around finally going after 4 months of limbo.
Continue reading “NEW DATES & REFLECTIONS”
We are so grateful for this amazing sending team! In case you’re not familiar with what a “sending team” can look like, here’s a brief description of what this group does…
Continue reading “MEET THE SENDING TEAM”
Our new city just completed a 4-day complete quarantine at home and will shortly begin a new one. During these times, you aren’t allowed to leave your home AT ALL. It makes us really grateful that we have been able to still get outside and take walks here in the States!
We were supposed to leave the country tomorrow. We were supposed to be sharing tearful goodbyes and making last minute preparations. Instead, COVID-19 has left us ALL in a state of uncertainty. All our country’s international flights are now shut down and we expect it to be a few months before we can travel.
Our counseling team has been incredibly encouraging. Some have traveled back to the States, avoiding quarantines that would restrict anyone over 65 from leaving their homes and seeking out the safety and familiarity in their home country. Others remained behind, hunkering down around those relationships they trust to keep them safe. Together, the team is navigating how to best serve cross-cultural workers from around the world.
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Due to the new Level 4 International Travel Advisory the State Department, we (along with our Directors at the counseling center) decided travel doesn’t seem doable at the moment, not least because we anticipate that our host country will shut down incoming flights by Sunday and even if we were to get there, language classes and even finding an apartment would be impossible for some time.
Continue reading “COVID-19 REALITIES & TRAVEL PLANS”
Hi from Colorado! We are a week into our month-long training before leaving the country. Not only are we enjoying the scenery and the group we’re living with for the month, but we’re neck deep in some new skill-sets that will hopefully aid us well in our next season.
Continue reading “PHONETICS TRAINING”Things are really on the move in 2020! So far…
Continue reading “ON THE MOVE”
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