Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob
As I think over the events from the past seven months, how encouraging this verse comes to be. Change in a way never before expected or played out has been a pattern for these months and seemingly for quite some time in the future.
We found ourselves “stuck” in the States for five months then on August 2nd we returned to our place of service. We dug into our life here and jobs with renewed enthusiasm and vigor. Our Village had survived the pandemic and the changes, in a good way. The children were back in school and there was not even a suggestion of “social isolation” or a mask in or around our town. Life had resumed to normal and wow did it feel good!!! It does seem for us that anytime things seem normal…..look out……
Rafiki Foundation home office has asked us to move to the Rafiki Village in Uganda and we have agreed. The Uganda Village has a couple who are leaving Rafiki in early December so they want us to resume their positions there. It is with VERY mixed emotions that we are making this move. We LOVE it here and the work is comfortable and good. We LOVE our team here and we are all good friends and we love the community we have come to know as home. However, we need to be ready to move if God directs us to do so and we feel that because of the circumstances and the need, God is moving us to another good place. Our move will occur from here on November 13th. We will arrive in Uganda, God willing and all the COVID testing and the visa process works out on December 4th. We even get to spend Thanksgiving in the States for the first in seven Thanksgivings.
What will we do in Uganda…. much the same as we do here. We hear the Village is beautiful but of course NO MOUNTAIN. They do say the Village there has a park like atmosphere. There are 80 children there and most are teenagers so not much different than here. I will also do childcare and finance and Kent will run the teachers training program with 25+ students and do some maintenance as time allows.. Stay tuned and we will let you know how it goes. We will dearly miss the staff, children, and missionaries here but I am sure there is good work for us to do there also. Please pray with us that God will continue to lead and direct us as we make this, what feels like, huge step in faith. Nothing compared to Moses though for sure.
| Friends for more than 30 years |
Picture of some of our girls here. The top picture is the "mother" of these girls as she marries one of our amazing maintenance staff. Losing a mother but a happy occasion for all.
| Morning school assembly |
| Our "Dream Team" |
We pray for your good health and safety. Barbara and I just celebrated the birthdays for our 2-year old grandson, Jack, and our 4-year old grandson, Russell. We enjoyed being with family, our son's sons, and our daughter and son-in-law and our other grandchild, Emma, age 25, all living in Edmonds, Washington. We hope Adella enjoys a special 16th birthday, one of the children we will continue to sponsor and pray for as well. We are busy helping with our grandsons 5 days a week, in the mornings, and Jerry has been a group leader with BSF for 2 years, and is an elder in our church, Shoreline Presbyterian Church. Barbara is a Sunday school teacher for 3 and 4 year olds, and getting used to zoom is often a BIG challenge, but it is what God has provided for His message to reach us in these most unusual days. Keep praying for the people of the United States and the world as we battle the pandemic that has affected so many people around the world.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless,
Jerry and Barbara Janacek