Home Stretch

In March we made a trip back to our former island to see our dear Hobongan friends. The Lord answered prayer and allowed us to pick our Hobongan fluency back up quickly so that we could enjoy the time. It was also a blessing to get to spend time with Rachel, who is still busy translating the Scriptures into Hobongan, as well as DJ’s dad and great-uncle who came from the States for a visit at the same time.

Back here we jumped back into the swing of things, giving a stage 4 evaluation 2 days after we returned. Since then, one family and one single from our language and culture students have said goodbye and moved on to the next steps in their ministries, and another family will be moving on to their region of service at the end of this week. The three families and one single who arrived in July last year are making good progress through stage 2 of their studies and will be ready for their stage 2 evaluations in June. Our newest family have recently finished their stage 1 evaluations and started into stage 2 as well. In July our teammates will be welcoming 2 new families and a single lady to begin their national language studies.

Tyndale had another Henoch-Schonlein purpura flare-up for about 3 weeks earlier this month. This time he only had joint/tendon pain, no rash or abdominal pain. He was unable to walk off and on for that whole time, but since then he seems completely healthy again. We praise the Lord that this flare-up was much milder and shorter than previous ones. Please continue to pray for Tyndale’s health, as well as for our whole family as we each have been facing some hard things recently.

One month from now, Lord willing, we will be back on American soil for our year of home assignment. It has been 3 and a half years since the last time we were in the US as a family. We plan to travel for 2 months this summer, from mid-June to mid-August, to visit friends, family, supporters, and churches. Our travels will take us through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, and back through Oklahoma and Texas. If we haven’t contacted you yet, you think you might be on our route, and you’d like to see us–send us a line. We’d love to connect with as many people as possible.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support. May God bless each of you.