Saying Goodbye

On our way back from saying goodbye to my family last night, I told Bruce that “It is a really good thing that we will be in Africa for three years because it will take me at LEAST that long to recuperate from saying goodbye to everyone”.  This past week has been filled with a lot of different emotions for us.  It has been super stressful as we ran around doing final errands and packed and then repacked our 10 pieces of luggage to meet the 50 pound per bag requirement.   It was also filled with fun and good times as we spent the final weeks here in the states with family and close friends both in Florida and Vermont.   As with all goodbyes, the week has also been filled with tears as we said goodbye to our church, friends and family for the next three years.  Having grown up in the Metrowest area and never having been away from home for a long period of time it was indeed one of the most difficult experiences to date for me. 

This past Sunday was a special day for us as we were commissioned by our sending church (Crossroads Community Church).  As part of our commissioning, we take with us the words from Joshua 1:9 that says, “This is my command – be strong and courageous!  Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  In the evening, many people came out to attend a special one hour prayer service for our family to praise God for His leading in our lives and to pray for our journey ahead.  At the prayer service, our dear friend Erin read Psalms 139 which in part states “You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head…You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” What wonderful words of encouragement. As my mom put it last night- “Sarah you were created to do this.” So as we leave, we go knowing with full assurance that God has created to do His work and know that there is nothing to be afraid of as He goes before us- even to Africa!

For all of us- Sarah

Our Travel Schedule 

Please pray for safe travels as we leave for Johannesburg South Africa tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11 am for a 16 hour flight.  Please pray that we would “enjoy” the journey and that the girls will sleep well on the plane.  We arrive in South Africa on Thursday and will spend  three days there to see the city and normalize to the new time zone.   We will fly from South Africa to Malawi on Sunday to arrive on campus in the afternoon.  We’ll make sure to keep you updated on our journey.  Thanks for being a blessing to us!