Changing Seasons

The one constant about this life is that it is always changing.  One season fades into the next as time continually races on.  When we returned to the states last year we thought we had a pretty good idea of what the coming season would look like.  We moved to Virginia so I could take on a new (but temporary) role as a professor at Liberty University’s new osteopathic medical school (LUCOM).  We hoped that the Monday to Friday schedule would allow for enough time on weekends to travel, speak at various churches, and raise support for us to return to Kenya in roughly 12-18 months.  It was a busy schedule as I found myself working 5-7 days a week…and now we find ourselves at the 15-month mark and the season has shifted dramatically from our expectations.

 

As many of you know, several months ago we began to ask for prayers regarding the acquisition of my Kenyan medical license.  For reasons that are still not fully understood, the Kenyan medical board has decided to stop granting licensure to any doctors of osteopathy (DOs).  Several meetings, letters, and proposals have been made and as of right now, that decision has not yet been reversed.  This is just one of many hardships this past year has brought into our lives.  We have faced many large challenges – professional, personal, and financial.  The cumulative effect of these situations has led us to the point where we don’t feel like we are in a healthy position to minister to others, especially not on the mission field where things can already be so difficult.

 

Some of you are aware that several weeks ago we began making plans for me to resign my position at Liberty and also our positions with World Gospel Mission as we began looking to return to Pennsylvania.  It is our hope that by going back to the Allentown area, we could return to our home church and also to the area where we still have a more solid support structure.  At this point we really don’t know exactly what the future holds for us.  Just as we said almost four years ago as we prepared to leave the U.S. for our first term in Kenya, we will follow God’s leading…wherever that may be.  We still have a heart and a deep passion for missions and we will continue to support the mission work going on at Tenwek and throughout the world.  And we still hope that at some point in the future we can be fully engaged again, but we recognize that now is not the time.

 

For those of you that have been supporting us financially, we would ask that you consider supporting other missionaries/mission agencies who are actively serving.  When God opens the door for us to return to the field, we will be sure to send out updates so you could consider rejoining our efforts.  We would also ask that you continue to pray for us as a family (see prayer requests below).  Despite the fact that we won’t be on the foreign mission field (which is hard to reconcile right now), we still consider ourselves to be missionaries and will continue to live lives that make an impact on eternity.  We will still post periodic updates for those of you that wish to know what is going on in our lives.  And please feel free to reach out at any time to contact us as we have loved getting to know so many of you over the past several years.  It has been a privilege to serve alongside of you.

 

Casting Crowns – Oh My Soul

Oh, my soul

Oh, how you worry

Oh, how you’re weary from fearing

You lost control

This was the one thing

You didn’t see coming

And no one would blame you though

If you cried in private

If you tried to hide it away

So no one knows

No one will see

If you stop believing

 

Oh, my soul

You are not alone

There’s a place where fear

Has to face the God you know

 

One more day

He will make a way

Let Him show you how

You can lay this down

‘Cause you’re not alone

 

Here and now

You can be honest

I won’t try to promise

That someday it all works out

‘Cause this is the valley

And even now

He is breathing on your dry bones

And there will be dancing

There will be beauty where beauty was ash and stone

This much I know

 

Oh, my soul

You are not alone

There’s a place where fear

Has to face the God you know

 

One more day

He will make a way

Let Him show you how

You can lay this down

 

I’m not strong enough

I can’t take anymore

You can lay it down

You can lay it down

And my shipwrecked faith

Will never get me to shore

You can lay it down

You can lay it down

Can He find me here?

Can He keep me from going under?

 

Oh, my soul

You are not alone

There’s a place where fear

Has to face the God you know

 

One more day

He will make a way

Let Him show you how

You can lay this down

‘Cause you’re not alone

 

Oh, my soul

You’re not alone

 

Prayer requests:

-Please pray for the Kenyan licensure situation.  There are still a lot of questions and many other physicians/mission hospitals that are being affected.  Pray that God’s will would be accomplished and mission hospitals would have the personnel that they need to function.

-Pray for us as we have yet another difficult transition ahead.  We are grieving the loss of Kenya (at least for now) and it has been incredibly hard on all of us.  Pray that we would have a peace about this decision.

-Pray that we would be able to use this time of rest to heal and reconnect as a family and pray that it would be a smooth transition for me to return to full-time work in the emergency department.  (I already miss my position as faculty at LUCOM.  I loved having the chance to work with such amazing faculty and students.)

-Pray for all of the goodbyes we have ahead of us.  It’s always bittersweet to leave “home”.  We’ve already had some great times celebrating with friends as we prepare to go.