I want to confess that I do not want to leave Kijabe, even if it is just for a short period of time. I really enjoy working and serving here. I love the hospital, even with its challenges. I love my coworkers, and I love the trainees. I can see that Allison is happy teaching at Rift Valley Academy. And now, when things could get difficult with COVID-19, at a time when the hospital may need us more, we are leaving. It is so hard! But I love my family more than the hospital, and I trust God over all. Without Kenyan school in the fall, it has become clear to us that it is better for our children to be in the US than to stay in Kijabe. We have made lots of decisions that have been hard for them, and I hope this is one that makes life a little easier. Not all of our kids have loved living here as much as their parents, and so maybe a change is owed. Therefore we are heading home in sadness, but also in hopes of good things!

I love the USA. I know things are difficult there currently. Kenya has fewer COVID cases total than Dallas County gets in a day. The important Black Lives Matter movement is a point of division. However, I surely miss my family and friends in the USA, and I miss a lot of what is familiar in Texas and Oklahoma where I have spent most of my life. I miss practicing medicine with lots of resources. I miss good food, good friends, and feeling culturally secure. We are looking forward to coming back as much as we are sad about leaving. So we are a confused group of people in this family! Please pray for us.

We leave this weekend, arriving home late Sunday night. We are so thankful for a mission guesthouse in which we have stayed before. We are thankful for a minivan! We are thankful for the mission guesthouse small car! Wow! God has been good to us through his people. Everyone who helps us and is friend with us, you cannot know how much it means!