Life in Transition

It's been a while since we've updated life on the little blog...sorry for our absence. Want to know what's been happening with us? LOTS! (which, by the way, I have tried to update and have had no success with internet when I have...#lifeinafrica) If you are on our newsletter updates list, most of this post will be old news to you. If you aren't subscribed and would want to get the latest from us on a "monthly-ish" basis, send us a message and we will add you on there!

 *This is where Baby Abel lives, where we have been paying many visits since we've been back...don't worry, an update on his miraculous progress is coming soon too.

First off, our time in the US over the holidays was beneficial on several fronts: 

1) We were able to clear our minds from the brain fog that occurs when you live in another culture. 

2) We were able to re-count Our Story of how God directed us to Bundibugyo, what has been happening there since our arrival, and what we feel like we need for long-term survival on the mission field. 

3) We were able to get valuable counsel for heading into the future in a healthy direction. 

God moved in some amazing ways, refreshed our hearts, and gave us a vision for what the next season of our life should look like. 

One of the needs that Derek has felt since arriving in Bundibugyo and "getting his feet wet" with the medical system here is that of further training in the tropical medicine realm. Our original plan was not exactly for him to be functioning as a PA in rural Africa without a physician to collaborate with and with little experience-but it's funny how God thwarts your plans sometimes to teach you about true dependence and release you of any self-reliance you might bring to the mission field!  Needless to say, it has been a tough path to venture on, but one that we have gleaned much humility and life lessons from. There have been other challenges of course, such as not being able to obtain his Clinical Officer license (the equivalent to a PA license) for over a year, to reform taking place within our local government health system, to the challenge of building collaborative professional relationships in a system known for its corruption. All in all, it's been some difficult waters to navigate, but ones that have definitely clarified where we need help.

*Pediatric Ward of the Nyahuka Health Center

*Back in the day when Dr. Jessica was still here (and Ruth the PA Student to help...)

So, when the opportunity presented itself to pursue a Tropical Medicine course at the University of West Virginia, we thought it was too good to be true! They cater to foreign missionaries, offer a discount if more than one person from the same company attend (so we naturally recruited a fellow Serge missionary to join us...) and it was during a time period that we were planning to be home anyway. Win-Win! So, that will be during the months of June and July, which will directly precede the start of our HMA in early August.

 *Yep- looks like we'll be doing the jetlag tango again soon!

Due to the miscarriage we had last fall, our HMA plans got a bit shifted around, and so now instead of starting in May, we will go from August through December. As we look back over the last 7 months and seen how God has sweetly written a Grief Chapter into our story...well, we are nothing but grateful. Not necessarily grateful for the circumstances that ushered us into that chapter, but for the ways that He ministered to our hearts (mostly through many of you!) and refreshed our spirits. Thus, we are really looking forward to this next season of reconnecting with friends and supporters, getting loved on and spiritually fed by our home church, and just sharing with many of you about what our journey in Bundibugyo has entailed, and what God has for us in the next chapter!


Following HMA, we are actually taking a 12-month detour from life in Uganda and pursuing an internship at Chogoria Hospital in central Kenya. It's really a neat story of how God opened that door for us to receive further training, so if we have time to share it with you while we are home we would love to! In a nutshell though, Derek will be participating in a newly developed medical residency program in which he will rotate through different specialties and receive training specific to practicing family medicine in a tropical environment such as East Africa. We are really excited about what this opportunity will afford him, and feel like God opened this door at this specific season- and we can't wait to see what unfolds there! 

 

So, there is our life plan for the next 18 months! We certainly weren't expecting to be gone from Bundibugyo for that long, but we are also reminded that ultimately the Lord is the one directing our steps, and we are called first and foremost to follow Him where He leads. It will be a bittersweet time of being away, but ultimately one that we see as a huge investment in our future on the mission field.

Oh yeah, and there's one other {little detail} I forgot to mention in this post... 

stay tuned for what's coming in the next one! 

This is Life.

[...in transition...]