We’ve decided to go ahead and move back to the city I mentioned in my last email in a few months. It will be for a minimum of 18-24 months and possibly permanent, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. I will lay out some of the factors we considered in making this decision. We will be able to help with some of the significant needs facing the team there who help guide new missionaries in their first year or so of language study.
Also, for now, we think it will be a very good environment for our family. Our kids will be able to go an international Christian school, we will have house helpers who take care of the bulk of the housework and meals and this also will free up Alisha to be able to focus on language study and also help with some the needs concerning helping the new missionaries.
Alisha has been feeling mostly good for 6+ weeks now, and we take that as a good sign. But should any more problems come up, it will be good to be somewhere closer to decent healthcare. She is still taking her 2 meds, but we hope to make a trip to Singapore sometime in the coming months and if the doctor feels it’s ok, maybe she can quit taking those.
This will be a huge change for us. We were just getting used to life here, which is a little more laid back. We will miss our friends and neighbors. It will also mean a significant change in our routine and workload. My role will be as a language coach. So I will help those studying language see how they can learn in the most effective way. We have had to make some adjustments of our own as individuals and as a family as we go through this, so maybe that will help us to help others. Alisha will be involved in organizing social events and other stuff, depending on her health.
Not only will it be a big change for Alisha and I, but for the kids too. Elroy and Scout have their own friends here now and will be sad to say goodbye, even though there are lots of friends waiting ahead, some of whom they already know. And who knows how Davis will handle the transition. He’s a funny kid and he really likes his stuff and his routine and his people.
We also will be having language evaluations in a week or so. A couple language consultants will be flying in the see how we’ve progressed in that area and how much more time we might need. I am hoping to be almost finished, but Alisha still has a good ways to go.
Another issue facing us is our housing. We are communicating with our co-workers who already live where we are headed and trying to figure out where we will live. On this end, we had contracted our house for 5 years. So we will still have 3+ years left of that when we leave. We need to figure out how much of our stuff we can bring on the plane, how much we can sell, how much can be left in this house and how much can be shipped for a reasonable price. It’s tough to know what to do since we don’t know whether we’ll be coming back. We will also need to find a way to have this house and our stuff here checked on.
All of this stuff will be giving us headaches pretty soon, so we thank you for your prayers in advance.
Thanks!
The McIlroys