Starting Over.

If you’ve followed our journey for very long, then you know we were never able to return to Nasir after the conflict broke out in December of last year. In May, we learned that our compound and houses had been looted, and now we are making new plans for long-term ministry in Tonj.

This journey has not been as expected; this journey has been harder.

It started with a conversation with our supervisor back in July. We sat out on our little porch in Tonj talking about the what ifs…and there were many. What if Nasir opens back up and we are able to return? What if it doesn’t? What if we start a new compound in Tonj? What if we don’t get land? What if the rest of our team is able to join us? What if they aren’t?

And the what ifs rolled on and on.

When we left Tonj on July 17th, we had absolutely no solid answers and even fewer plans. It’s the place I most despise…no plans. We had a great ideal situation all laid out, but so many factors had to fall into place for that to happen. So really, we had nothing. Yet I felt God tugging on my heart to just stay the course.

It wasn’t until sometime in September (I think…it could have been late August…the days and weeks often roll together in my mind now that I have a baby) that we found out that the plan we most hoped would work out (aside from returning to Nasir) actually looked promising.  The new missionary family joining EV would be moving with Blaise and I to Tonj, where we would set up a new compound and begin working among the Luo people.

So it was official. We were starting over. New location. New team. New people group. New language. New homes. New everything.

Y’all, I cannot tell you how much I’ve wrestled with this. Blaise and I have always felt specifically called to Nasir and the Nuer people. Why would God lead us over here just to have us wander? Why would we not get to invest in the very people we felt called to serve among? Why?

Why?

Yet somehow there’s a peace in my heart. An excitement about building a new place to call home and settling in. An eagerness to begin learning a new language, making new friends, and bonding with new teammates.

So here’s the [very loose] plan.  Blaise (along with Brad, our new teammate) is in South Sudan right now hopefully purchasing our new land, arranging a construction crew, and perhaps even mapping out our compound. He will return next Friday, hopefully bringing lots of good news with him, we’ll spend Thanksgiving together, and then on December 1st they will drive our Land Cruiser up to Tonj loaded down with supplies. They will begin overseeing the construction of the new compound…the homes, the latrines, the fence, etc. I (along with Kate, our new teammate) will remain here in Kampala purchasing all of our household supplies and food for our first rotation. Somewhere around the middle of December (if everything goes according to plan, which happens all of the time here {wink}), Kate and I will fly up to Tonj with our kiddos and supplies. And we’ll live happily ever after.

Obviously, there are a about a million things that have to go right for this plan to happen on this timeline, and since I’m not a natural optimist, I’m begging for your prayers! Specifically, pray that the guys can get the land purchased and all trip goals met in this next week, that the roads are dry enough for them to drive up on December 1st-3rd, and that the compound is built and ready even faster than expected. Oh how we would love to spend Christmas as a family in Tonj!

And, while I’m not thrilled that I had to spend money I would have preferred to save to buy the same household items we lost in Nasir, I am always excited to get a shipment of pretty new linens. Here’s to starting over…