Thank You

Last Tuesday we had our cultural assessment and also graduation from our official national culture and language study.  We still have growth yet to achieve, but will now do that along side our ministry rather than that being our full time ministry.  So we had all the other missionaries out who are still in the process and invited our host family over to thank them for all their hard work.  We would not be who we are today without them and are so thankful that God brought them into our lives.

Here is our Tribute to them…

Bagne and Cecil,

Two years ago Joel and I and the leader of our field approached the pastor of the church here to ask if there was a family who wanted to take us, these young missionaries, under their wings.  Our leader explained that he wanted us to change and not just be accepted as we were.  That we would be done when we were people that the church could confidently send out to do ministry without feeling embarrassed.  And yes he knew what a big task that was.  Pastor Bagne, you went home that night and told this to Cecil.  You two were so excited about this idea and prospect that you decided to take on this project yourselves.  And now two years later we are looking back in awe at what God has accomplished through your willingness to serve and to love us.

The task was as great and as difficult as we thought it would be, but you never gave up on us.  I am sure there were many times when you wanted to, but you stuck by us.  We had to convince you that we were willing to change, but you accepted our slow growth and walked beside us continuing to push us forward.  You accepted us into your family and have become our parents into this world.  There is no way that I could list all the things you guys have done for us, but here are some of the ones I treasure most dear to my heart….

• You taught us the basics of life, starting from way back to things that even a child who has grown up here would already knows.

  

  

  

• You became our advocate, vouching for us to get us through the doors to places and events we would have never even known about without you.

  

• You became our friends and confronted us when we had offended someone even when we were not aware.

  

• You gave us advice on any issue or decision we were facing

  

• You helped us know how to integrate into the church and told us what events we needed to be at

  

• You took us on adventures, even when we were unprepared and helped us through the shock

  

• You never accepted that we had gone far enough, but kept pushing us forward to the next level

  

• You kept pulling us up even we got tired of climbing

  

• You sympathized with us even when our struggles were minimal compared to yours

  

• You loved us and by loving us you taught us how to love here

  

So from all of us we want to say Thank You!  Thank you for all you have done for us and for sticking beside us.  We know that we have been blessed to have you by our sides and know that a lot of our progress is as a result of all your hard work.  God brought you into our lives and we couldn’t have asked for better African parents.  Even though we have graduated, you will still always be our parents and I know that our journey together has only begun.  God is Good!