After much deliberation it seems as if God is leading us on a new path. For some time now Michelle has been interested in studying for a Master’s in Psychology. She has taken some correspondence classes here in South Africa and it really confirmed her passion in that field. She is busy applying to schools in the States for next fall.
John and the rest of the staff have been really supportive through our whole process. I think leaving a ministry is always a hard and painful decision to make. We dreaded telling the staff. I can’t help but feel like I’m abandoning them. But John has assured us that he thinks we are making the right choice in this matter.
When we first discussed our thoughts about leaving J-life, John asked us to help with Liberia before we left. We agreed to do that, and we are very glad we did. It is been a great challenge and blessing and something that has grown us a lot. We will go to Liberia again in January and then return to help with the new South African Students until about February 10th. After that we will be heading back to the States.
It has been an amazing experience for me to have been here and to work alongside my amazing wife. Michelle is an incredible missionary, and she has put her heart and soul into everything she has done over the past 3 years. I’m super proud of her. In hindsight, I recognize that it was crazy for us to move across the world just a few months into our marriage. But I believe we are returning to the States much stronger as a couple, and we thank God for that.
Our passion for Africa remains strong. I have experienced leaving Africa before, but Michelle doesn’t know what she is in for. I am praying that it will not be too traumatic for her! I am so thankful for everyone who has supported us! We have never gone hungry, and we’ve never had to say no to a ministry opportunity due to a lack of funds.
We recently had an Open Day at J-Life, something we have started to attract perspective students to see what we are offering. I led a panel discussion of “x-J’s” for them to tell about their experiences. They all shared the ways in which J-life shaped them into the people they are today. It’s such a privilege to have been part of their journey in life and faith. It’s great to know that this movement is African at heart, and it will continue to be driven by Africans, as the life of Christ is taught and lived out around the continent.
We won’t be coming back to the States with a lot of possessions, but we will be returning with minds full of great memories, and hearts full of wonderful African friends. I have no doubt that we will stay closely connected to Africa, and to J-Life, in the years to come. And we know that we’ll be back again soon.
As for the rest of our time here, Michelle and I are going to be heading to Cape Town for the Laussane Conference of World Missions. We are attending as volunteers, serving the 4000 delegates from over 200 countries. I can’t wait to spend time with all these people, and hear what God is doing in every corner of this world. I am praying that we will be inspired and directed as to how God is going to use our experiences over the past 3 years into the future. We will hopefully strike up some new partnerships with J-Life as well.
I am planning on making my last trip to Liberia from the States sometime next summer to finish up our project there. And if I could just find a job that would give me about 10 weeks off per year, I would also love to try to start some work in Sierra Leone, but we will have to wait and see if those doors are open.
Then towards the end of the year our teams will be returning for a week of re-integration, and then we will host our annual youth summer camp in December before heading to a good friend’s wedding (it happens to be Jason Price who is the mutual friend responsible for Michelle and I meeting!) After Christmas it’s back to Liberia and then we’ll finish off with the South African training into February.
If you are the praying type, here a few things to put on your list for us:
That J-Life would be able to recruit more staff to keep up with the ministry opportunities presenting themselves around the continent
That Michelle would be accepted into a good, affordable psychology program
Pray for the rest of our time here; that we would use the next 5 months to invest into J-Life and the people
Posted by miah at 12:17 PM. Filed under:
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