Packing for a missionary is more than just throwing some stuff in boxes and leaving it in a closet. Let us give you a glimpse of what our last month in the village looked like:
- First, we began by sorting. We needed to figure out what we needed to pack away, what we could give away, and what was truly not worth keeping.
- Next, we began packing. All of our belongings that we were leaving behind needed to fit into Stephen’s office, which is about six feet square. As much as possible, we tried to pack everything into boxes that would not be invaded by insects or rodents. We then made a list of everything we had, and which box it was in (we discovered last Home Assignment that we didn’t remember as much as we thought we would).
- We sorted all of the give-away things into categories, and began giving them away. There were many toys that we gave away to individual families, so this involved several days of visiting our Agutaynen neighbors (which was a nice time). There were also many clothes, both that our children had outgrown, and that had been donated by Atlanta Free Church in Iowa. We set aside a day for that, posted signs, and spent the morning distributing about 800 bags of individual clothing items to all who came.
- Lastly, we packed our suitcases with everything we will be taking with us to the States.
Now, all of this took us about three weeks to accomplish. But we thought you might be interested in some of the other things that were going on in our lives at the same time:
- Jonathan has been potty training. People have always told us it would be easier if we started later. We have found this to be true, and Jonathan has been doing a great job. However, accidents still happen, which aren’t always convenient when everything is packed.
- Our oven broke. Ginger learned how to cook creatively on the stovetop.
- Our refrigerator stopped working. Thankfully the freezer part was still mostly working, so we were able to keep our meat and cheese from spoiling.
God is so good, and we are thankful for the many ways He provided for us. Yes, our last month in the village was busy and tiring, but each item that we packed was another reminder of God’s provision and care for us.