The End of the Beginning
“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Winston Churchill’s famous quote from WWII seems to apply well to us this week. We have just completed our first year as teachers for the ABWE missionaries in Mango, Togo. Within a week’s time we should be arriving back “home” in Idaho for a few weeks of summer vacation. God has shown Himself so faithful to us, despite the many challenges that this year held. First, we did not have textbooks for the first two months of the year due to a shipping container delay. Secondly, the war broke out in Israel while our daughter was studying at IBEX, abruptly ending her dream of a semester abroad. Our hearts ached for her. Thirdly, the power and water supply to our home in Mango was very inconsistent at times, making daily living a real struggle.
BUT GOD … (don’t you love those words?) … God had so much to teach us through those experiences. We have learned to depend on His strength. We have grown to love and admire the missionaries who are pouring themselves out year after year at the Hospital of Hope, Hope Radio, the IBS Bible Institute, the Bon Berger African Christian school, the prison and community health evangelism ministries, and through church planting in the villages of northern Togo. We have also met some incredible doctors and nurses and college students who give up their vacation time to serve in short-term roles in this remote and impoverished area of the world. We consider our job of teaching the missionary children a very easy one by comparison to most. Our students at the MK school have such a unique perspective on life, and THEY are often the ones teaching US! We cannot wait to come back and start the second year.
While we are back in the United States this summer, we hope to be able to share with many of you about the amazing work that God is doing in Togo. We have a few church visits scheduled, but we would love to fill our time with more opportunities, so please reach out. We will be in Idaho from June 20th to August 27th. During that time, we will also be traveling to southern California (August 3 to 11) and to Cedarville, Ohio (August 11-17) where we will be dropping two of our daughters off at their colleges. Please pray for us! This is going to be a summer of much transition for our family. We are very confident in God’s direction and provision for each one of us… but it doesn’t make it easy. For the first time, we will be returning to the mission field with just one daughter. Valerie absolutely loved her first year in Mango and has thrived among the teens here, but she will miss her sisters very much.
Thank you for your faithfulness in giving and for your prayers for us!