Late November Update
Here is a little follow-up to my last update!
Housing:
It is now November 18, and we are still looking for a place
to live. Is this how we hoped things would happen; nope! Yet we know that God
has a plan and we are choosing to rest in that plan. We have expanded our
search out of the game reserve, which is both a bit scary and also exciting.
Perhaps God has been keeping us from finding a place here because he wants us
to step outside of our comfort zone? Or maybe he has a place in the reserve for
us, but is busy working on our hearts, teaching us to rest and trust. We don’t
know yet, but we do know that we can believe Him when He says He is good and we
can rest assured that He knows our needs and has not abandoned us. For now,
thanks to the kindness of Mama Chris, we are staying put. We MUST be out by 1
January as there are some things out of her and our hands, but now we have a
bit more breathing room and we can get this school year wrapped up without
stressing over our housing!
Amo:
I think the announcement that Amo is going to be
transitioning back to live with her family came as quite a shock to some of
you. This is not something unexpected or sudden for us, but let me back up a
bit for those who don’t understand why this is the right time.
Amo’s auntie Grace is graduating from high school this
month. As of right now, she does not have the means to further her education.
She also has a child of her own that she needs to care for. We believe that it
is best to transition Amo back to her family while we are still around to check
in, offer support and stand in the gap when needed. We do not intend to drop
Amo off and walk away from her or from this family!
We try to be sensitive and wise when we offer support of any
kind to Amo’s family. We do not want to create dependency, but provide
opportunities for them to flourish. Our plan with having Amo return home to the
care of her aunt is twofold: First, it gets Amo back in her family environment
where she belongs! Amo has a family that loves her and wants to care for her. Will
they do it perfectly, probably not, but neither do we! Will we be there to
encourage them and assist them and point out ways they can better care for her,
absolutely! Second, we know that Grace has hopes and dreams and wants to attend
paramedic training. Could we step in and make this happen for her? We sure
could. Do we want to just step in and hand this opportunity over to her without
anything coming from her side? Nope.
We have spoken to Annah, as the eldest sister, and also to
Grace and we are putting a plan in place to benefit the whole family, including
Grace. Culturally speaking, Grace is obligated to take care of Amo. Annah is
her elder and if Annah says “you will watch my child” Grace is obliged to do
so. However, we would like to see that Grace has an opportunity to fulfill her
dreams as well. We plan to walk along side Grace as she learns to care for Amo
in the best way, not just leaving her lying on a bed, but working with her
physically, taking her out so she can interact with others, and interacting
with her so that she grows emotionally and mentally. In return for caring for
Amo as if it were a job, we intend to set aside money so that Grace can attend
her training in the future (if you would like to help with this, please let me
know!) We see this as a win/win. Amo gets loving care from her family and Grace
gets training and the opportunity to be gainfully employed doing something she
actually wants to do!
So please pray for us as we work together with Amo’s family
for her good and as we help them in the process!
Take Action:
I don’t even remember if I had anything about this in my
last post, but here is a little update. Right now we (Take Action) are working
hard to apply to be a Non Profit Company (NPC). This involves a lot of
paperwork, revisiting our vision and mission, choosing a board, looking at our
own roles within the operational running of Take Action and looking ahead to
what God wants us to be doing as an organization and as individuals. These
things are good, but they are hard. Working with people who have different
personalities, opinions, ideas and ways of communicating can be frustrating!
Please pray for us though, as we seek to do all of this as unto the Lord, and
not for ourselves. Growth is exciting, change is hard, but the end result, if
we listen to where God is leading, will be beautiful!
School:
Next week our kids start exams! They have 2 exams a day from
Monday through Wednesday, then they are off for Thanksgiving (benefit of having
a lot of American influence at the school) on Thursday and Friday. The
following Monday they have 2 exams, then one each on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Then they are in school until the 9th. I think there will be a fun
day and the honors ceremony, but once exams are over, we will all breathe a
little easier! I tell the kids to not stress as we just want them to do their
best, but it is easy for me to say and hard for them to do!
Visitors:
We are looking forward to 2016. Darin’s mom is coming
mid-January til mid-February and my parents arrive the first of March and leave
the first week of April. The kids are already making their lists of wants and
needs. So are Darin and I. I am looking forward to Double Stuff Oreos. I
finished my last cookie earlier this week and I find myself craving them like
crazy now that they are gone. We are eager to know where we will be living when
our visitors come. Will we be in the reserve or in town? Will they have their
own little flatlet or will we all squeeze into a house like the one we are currently
in? Always an adventure, that is for sure! I am sure that while Grandma Karen
and Papa and Gram are around we will “borrow” Amo quite a bit. She is so loved
by our extended family and that is such a joy to us!
Thank you all for praying so faithfully for our family and
for the people we come into contact with here in our part of the world!
Comments