Dear All,
Since our newsletter last week, our circumstances have changed quite a bit!
One thing we have not yet shared with you is that in February of this year, we decided to take a year-long furlough (or sabbatical) in the States. There were several reasons for this, one having to do with Kelly’s contract with Rosslyn and financial considerations, and the other is Kelly’s dad’s health. As many of you know, he has been battling cancer for the past year. After going through treatment last summer, it resurfaced in another area in December. After being here for 12 years, and only coming home for short visits and the 6 months when Zeke was born, we decided it was time for us to come home for a bit. This will also allow Zeke to get to know his family in person, rather than just over video chat (at least when all this social distancing dies down!). We were planning on coming back in June, but had not bought tickets yet due to COVID-19.
As we said last week, the government banned all international flights in and out of Kenya. We were notified a few weeks ago that there was a possibility of a U.S. Embassy chartered flight that may be coming to remove some of their Embassy staff and other Americans who wanted to leave. We prayed about it for several days and decided that if a flight became available, we would like to be on it. We didn’t know when the next opportunity to leave Kenya would be, and we wanted to spend this next year with family.
It’s been a rollercoaster week of being told there was a flight coming next week and there were seats available, then being told they weren’t available, and then finding yesterday there were seats on a “first come, first serve” basis. It was absolute madness (imagine a virtual Black Friday sale, combined with the Hunger Games, except all of your competitors are your friends). Somehow, and we’re not really sure how it happened, we were able to get tickets on the flight. I think there were only 30-some seats available, and there are a lot of Americans in Kenya.
*Please note that we are not trying to leave because of civil unrest or anything. It has been very calm here and the government is doing a good job of containing things while still allowing life to continue. However, as with living in any foreign country, there is always a bit of trepidation about what might happen.
So, next week, God willing, we will be boarding a flight to come back to the U.S. for about 14 months. We only have a few days to make sure our house is all packed up for the year, as new renters will be moving in. Please pray for us! And please pray for Zeke… we have an 18 hour flight to the States… with a 2 year old....
We have already set up ways for ministry to continue while we’re gone. Kelly was approved to take a sabbatical from Rosslyn. Because so much of Matt’s ministry has moved to a digital format, his work can continue seamlessly. He will continue to collaborate with our guys who do the preaching and teaching in conferences and seminaries, once everything opens back up. The Kuza team will continue working on the app devotionals, blogs, videos, and podcasts. Last time we spent 6 months in the States, the Kenya team was actually more productive and effective while we were gone (not sure what that means, ha!), and we are praying that this will happen again.
God has blessed us with an amazing team, both our supporters Stateside, and our Kenyan team on the ground. We are so thankful to partner with all of you in equipping churches to reach youth for Christ. We hope (eventually) to see many of you Stateside!
Prayer Requests:
1. Please pray for us as we get ready to leave Kenya.
2. Pray for our staff and colleagues' safety.
3. Pray for protection as we travel.
4. Pray for Zeke during the long flight (and for all of us during our 2 week quarantine afterwards).
5. Pray for Zeke to adjust well to our new house and schedule.