And a Happy New Year!

Happy 2012!  We had a much needed quiet few days at home to close our recent travels, we rang in the New Year with Harry Potter and hot chocolate and texted our parents before heading to bed.  We’re happy to be back in Bamenda, which has taken on some of the comfort and familiarity of “home,” though as we’ve said before, holidays, birthdays, the events of life, always do make us feel the absence of our loved ones more.  We’ve now been in country for seven months, and it’s gone by quickly – we’ll be going to our mid-service conference in just seven more months, and be half way through our service!  Thanks for the prayers and packages, messages and letters that have made our settling in here so much easier.  We thank our God for his constant provision, for our home, filled with so many reminders of the lives and love waiting at the other end of the world for us at the end of service, for our friends, new and old, for health and safety - not always guaranteed.
”This is what we signed up for,” a friend said recently.  There’s risk inherent in every worthy endeavor.  We go out, we do our best to provide training and education, information, to share a bit of our culture as we learn to live in another, to show that the world has not forgotten those who struggle, that God has not forgotten, to laugh and cry, and discover the reserves of the spirit, to wonder if we can make any difference, and, we hope, to leave something of value behind when we go.  “The hardest job you’ll ever love” is a terrible cliché.  We don’t do this for love, but because something deeper inside won’t let us look and turn away.
So we push forward. In a year we’ll be looking toward home.  For now, we look to our efforts here.  January looks to be a month of preparation for us, and next month we launch our literacy classes!  And maybe take a little vacation back to the beach for Kiyomi’s birthday…