the longer version

Big changes coming for us

Dear Friends and Family,

To those who bend your knees and lift us and our people up before God:  There are lots of changes coming up for our family and our people.

Toward the end of last November, while I (James) was praying I felt like I heard God say that our family had one year left here, and with that He impressed upon us some people to focus on this year. Since then we have prayed to confirm I had really heard Him correctly.  During the last year we also asked Him and asked for counsel from others about how to make our lives more sustainable here, yet that didn't seem to be the answer He gave. 

During October, Jill and I finally got a few days away to talk, pray and, think without the interruptions of normal daily life and we believe He is leading us back to the States.  We'll move back to America in the mid-December.

I know for most of you this news is sudden and might seem pretty quick, but for us it is something we have been praying about and processing for about a year. It doesn’t make it any easier in terms of leaving.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a number of things about being in the states we are excited about. However, at the same time we feel deeply that the work here needs more boots on the ground.  Over the last few months, God has shown us a number of things about the work.  One being the need to raise up prayer and raise up more specific prayer for our people.  He has also opened up training, mentoring, and encouraging opportunities with different churches here. 

We are sad to be leaving. We are sad to say goodbye to all of our friends and co-laborers. There are those we have discipled and encouraged in their walks of following Jesus.  There are our friends who continue to be separated from a relationship with God.  There are all those people around us we do not know, but that we brush up with, walk past, or see on a daily basis who are still living in slavery to sin, not knowing that Jesus has already paid the price for them.

In the States we are excited about being closer to family and friends. We are excited about access to better medical care. We’re excited about being perfectly fluent again. 😊 We’re also excited about whatever God has for us in the States… although at the moment of writing we are not entirely sure what that will be.  However, we do believe God is calling us back to the States for a reason.  (Without a purpose, it’s hard to see why He would remove us from here.  We may not be the greatest cross-cultural workers in the world, but we are here, and we are willing to stay if He wants us to.)  We do not know what His plans are, but we believe it will still involve making disciples of all nations.

We wanted to tell you sooner, but obviously our list of daily tasks is longer than usual with closing out everything on this side of the world. Also, our internet has been sporadic and slowed down in conjunction with China's biggest leadership meeting last month, so even the days we wanted to write, we weren't able. 

We appreciate all your prayers for us over the years, and we ask that you continue to pray for us and with us as we make this transition.  Pray especially for our girls as they are processing what it means to move to America.  (Sometimes countries, cities, and continents get all mixed up for them and they are having a hard time processing exactly what that will mean to move and not come back in a few months.)

We also ask that you continue to pray for the people here and the work going on among them.  Pray that God will send fresh eyes and fresh energy to replace us.  The field is white with harvest… pray that God will send out workers into His harvest field.  (Are you one of them?)

Pray also for our co-laborers who are remaining behind.  Often it is lonely work, and when someone leaves it often feels like their presence has been replaced with a big hole.  Pray that God would give them assurance and that God would send us all new workers.