Ezekiel
blowing out his 4th Birthday candle at Indian Avenue Baptist Church.
Anyone
who has been around missionaries for a while, especially missionaries in a
place like South Sudan, will understand that no matter how much we try to
prepare and plan, all plans are tentative.
For months we’ve been telling people our travel plans. I (Justin) would go back to SS in November to
work on the house, and come back about a month later to get Amy and the kids to
return later in the year or early January.
Well, that has changed!
We will be going back to Africa a few months later than
planned, the delay is a result of a few things that have happened. The first is medical. I have been thinking about getting bariatric
surgery for a while, and have had a few doctor friends suggest that it would be
a good option for me. With that in mind,
I met my biological father for the first time (by phone) a few weeks ago, and
when he told me his medical history I decided that having the surgery sooner
than later would be a good idea. We were
praying about how to get surgery and still return to South Sudan as planned
when the next thing happened.
The Pioneers African leadership met last month and decided
that they did not want to allow families with children to return to South Sudan
until further notice. This wouldn’t
affect our plans so much. I was planning
on leaving Amy and the kids in Uganda (where it’s safe) for a while and making
trips back and forth to Lohutok. This
way we could decide when it was safe to go back as a family. With the decision
coming down from our leadership (It’s not my call anymore, we’re waiting on a
green light from them now) AND the new urgency behind surgery, we decided now
would be a good time to get the surgery done.
I am flying to San Diego on November 30th and will
have surgery on December 1st.
That will leave about 4 months to recover before our leaders meet again
in April, and at that point we will *plan to* either go back to South Sudan or
leave the family in Uganda while Justin goes back and forth. Please be faithful in praying for us during
these extra transitions.
Thanks!
Justin, Amy, Ezekiel and Caleb
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