This last season has been a long transition in location. Here’s a timeline that shows a bit more of what it takes to move an entire organization and several families / teammates to a new country.
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Tag: reflection
Between Worlds
We’ve been in the states for a few weeks now reconnecting with family, participating in wedding festivites for a family member, meeting some of you (in groups and individually), and have already been sharing at a number of presentations!
It’s been a full time so far and so good overall, but also a bit surreal as we get weekly messages from our team as they pack up the office / homes ahead of us and scatter for the summer to their own home areas. Connecting with people here, coordinating zoom calls spread across several time zones about new visa unknowns, and trying to fundraise and plan for this next season, it does at times feel as though our life is stretched between worlds.
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BIG CHANGES
For 3.5 years now we have lived and worked alongside an incredible team of counselors in a richly diverse and beautiful country in the Middle East. We have fallen in love with it in so many ways, poured our heart and soul into making friends, learning the language, and navigating life in a new culture – in addition to serving the expat community. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve thrived in many ways in this place. We are SO grateful.
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A Year In Review
Merry Christmas, friends!
It’s been a whirlwind year for us, nestled in the Middle East with wars to the North, to the South East, massive earthquakes, an overwhelming need for counseling, and a limited staff. We’ve also faced many of our own instabilities with internal government and visa issues. We certainly have felt the weight of the world in some fresh ways this year. And while there is more that we’ll share in the coming weeks about that, we wanted to just reflect on some of the ways we served – both in our community and to cross-cultural workers who are in the trenches in incredibly difficult areas.
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Beyond Counseling…
| I recently came across an article talking about how our closest relationships can suffer during times of intense stress. And let’s be honest, life can be stressful! For those who have moved overseas, there’s a season of intense change, culture shock, language barriers, etc. As everything feels more difficult, we may find ourselves turning away from or even against the most important people in our lives. If you recognize something of yourself in this description, consider the questions in this article as potential conversations starters with the people you’re closest to. |
REFLECTIONS
We’ve been living in a new country for 7 months now! As we consider the life decisions that have landed us on the other side of the world, and how we’re doing amidst them, we’re overwhelmed mostly with gratitude. Our timing was interesting… I mean, nobody planned for us to be moving abroad amidst a pandemic. Or trying to learn a new language with masks and restrictions and lockdowns getting in the way. Or for one of our parents to get diagnosed with cancer. But we have been consistently surprised by blessing along the way and despite the unique challenges of this season, we are on our feet. So here are a few reflections 7 months in:
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A YEAR APART
One year ago in October, we got to be a part of a really amazing day. Over 200 people helped pull together an EPIC global fair for some cross-cultural workers our community supports. We estimated that over 1,800 people came through that day and got a taste, just for a moment, of their world. It was an incredibly humbling event to be a part of – and see how He was working both in those who lived abroad those who supported from our community.
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Safe Haven 