New Year, New Blog Design!

Enjoying family in CA!

It’s a new year and we’re looking ahead to a new term of service on the islands, so we thought we’d follow our tradition of archiving our old blog posts and giving our blog a new look. Don’t worry our old blogs are still around. In fact they go all the way back to our days preparing go to Chad in 2007— over 500 blog posts in all!

Even as we archive the old, we hope we’re still learning from our past experiences. At the same time it is a chance to look ahead at what is coming up new. And in fact, we are looking forward to  quite a bit of new.  Here’s some of the things you can expect to hear about in 2017 and the years ahead.

A new term:  We will be returning to Clove Island to begin a new term of service (until 2020).  So that means you can expect new blogs, newsletters, stories and prayer requests, full of new challenges as new things happen in the world around us, as our kids enter new stages of life and as we learn new lessons about God, ourselves and others.

A new team:  Even now we are finding out about possible new members to join our team.  We know from experience that each new team member brings a new dynamic to team life, decisions, discussions and conflict resolution. We hope to have many new members join us on Clove Island to bring new help, new hope, and new life to our island friends.

Kids still reveling in their Christmas presents!

A new curriculum:  As a team we try to constantly sharpen our skills and grow deeper in maturity and effectiveness.  One of the ways we do this is by reading and discussing different books and studies.  We are in the process of creating a new curriculum for the next two years or so.  We are still in the planning stage, so if you have a book you think our team should be reading, let us know!!!

A new house:  You may remember us writing a blog a long time ago about finding ourselves a new home to rent.  We found the home before we left, but we are excited to move in and make a new house a home.  Of course moving means new opportunities, new neighbors, new friends, and new daily rhythms.

Now it won’t be all new,  we are still committed to living among, helping, and serving the people of Clove Island.  We are still committed to growing in wisdom, language, culture, and hopefully maturity.  We are still committed to writing our blog every week so that you can be aware of what’s going on in our world.  We are still committed to working with a team so that we all might learn, grow and check one another.  And we are still committed to being thoughtful in our personal and public life as we live with and serve the people of Clove Island.

We hope you’ll come along with us and keep us accountable to all we’re committing to as we continue on this great new adventure!

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Our teammates of the small Vanilla island have continued to clash with officials about getting the contract for one new colleague to get his visas, but meanwhile the police have extended (way beyond normal limits) his temporary visa and have renewed another family’s annual visas. We’re thankful for this favor with the immigration office even as tension with the governor’s office continues. We’ve heard about another person interested in joining our team! It has been encouraging to see increased interest. Our colds are getting better— thanks for praying.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Megan meets with a neurosurgeon on Thursday to discuss her back. We’re hoping to get clear guidance about whether surgery is in her future whether in the short or long-term. We have the chance to communicate with some potential teammates this week— pray for a good time of discerning on both sides. We have the chance to talk to a large group on Sunday, plus a few small groups— pray that we would lead those times well as we share about the islands and the power of good news!