This autumn we have had the privilege of splitting our time between the U.S. and Africa.
We knew that we wanted to visit our family, friends, and supporters again this year but we didn’t want to deal with sickness and snow causing problems like last year. So rather than wait until next spring when the training center project and discipleship ministry will be super busy, we decided to take a shorter furlough this fall. We were able to spend 6 weeks in Virginia from mid September through the end of October. It was pleasantly chilly and the autumn leaves were beautiful! We had a wonderful time and are so thankful for all the memories made.

We landed back in the capital city on November 1st and were immediately met with the heat. Africa hadn’t gotten the memo that summer was over! It took us a while to get over the jet lag and adjust to the temperatures but then we had fun visiting a few sights and restaurants around the capital. We brought 10 checked bags back with us including: ministry supplies, gifts, and some favorite American goodies. On November 3rd we flew down to our host city and were delighted to be greeted by our national ministry partners and our dog Jedi.

We have now unpacked, settled in and re-established our routines. The kids and I are back to homeschooling, and Justin is back to working in the Tree of Life ministry. In fact, just 5 days after we arrived home Justin left for a discipleship coaching trip to Togo. With such a short travel window, we are grateful that we didn’t have any hiccups with our covid tests this time! Third times a charm right? Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving with a few other missionary friends. It was nice to have some traditional Thanksgiving dishes to remind us of home, even if there was no turkey. The substitutionary chicken was delicious! It’s crazy that December is right around the corner! We decided to go ahead and put up our little Christmas tree this past weekend. The kids are looking forward to Christmas and as an added bonus it’s finally starting to feel a little cooler here.

God bless,

Rachel