19.8.15

Going Home

by Jess Cropsey

In exactly one week, our family will be getting on an airplane to head back to Burundi.  We have had a wonderful couple months here in the United States, but all of us (even the kids) are excited to go back home.  We've had some discussions with the kids about the "yuck duck" and the "yeah duck" (modeled with two rubber ducks) that harkens back to our cross-cultural training in Colorado.  The "yuck ducks" are missing grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins.  The "yeah ducks" are being able to play with dear friends again, being in their own rooms and having their own toys.

And for me, it really does feel like going home this time.  In Kenya and France, it just wasn't quite the same feeling of being home.  We knew those places were temporary.  As I thought about this, I realized that this will be the first time that the kids & I have left the United States for a place that we've already been to before!  Our first three trans-Atlantic flights were all going to a new & unknown place (Kenya, France, Burundi).  This time, we know what we're in for and what to expect -- the grocery stores, the currency, the food & other items that are available, the roads, the people, the language (to some extent anyways), etc.  We have a beautiful home that we are going back to, a team that has become like another family, and Burundian colleagues who are dear friends and wonderful ministry partners.  

Please pray for us as we travel next week (Wednesday, August 26th - Friday, August 28th).  Several other teammates (new & old) as well as a visiting general surgeon & his family will be traveling at the same time.  It will be a time of transition at Kibuye as a large group of ex-patriates descend upon this rural place that has been relatively quiet for the last few months.  And pray for our new teammates in particular, Caleb & Krista Fader (engineer/nurse) and Nicole Christenson (finance) as they settle into life & ministry with our team.  

A few of the amazing people we've been able to spend time with this summer:













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