Hellos and Goodbyes

Two weeks from today, I'll arrive back in the U.S.A. Some days it's hard to believe two years has passed so quickly. Other days I remember how much I have changed and others have changed and it seems longer than 2 years. The transition time is definitely bittersweet - saying goodbye to people, language, surroundings that have become quite familiar, but saying hello to family and friends and my home food and culture. I have accumulated quite a list of both things I will miss and things I will not miss as I head back to the States - maybe I'll share some of those items in a future blog. The goodbyes have definitely begun, but we have also enjoyed some recent hellos. Our friends the Roberts, Galats, and Whites all returned recently from a year in the States, so we have loved getting to enjoy meals and fun with their families again.

We continue to welcome new visiting doctors who provide lots of help in the hospital with patient care and medical education. It's especially beneficial for Tenwek Hospital to have extra help now as they lose 5 doctors at once with our team finishing our two year commitment. Please pray especially for more pediatric and obstetric doctors to be willing to come help in the months ahead. I welcomed my friend Allison to Kenya this month (ophthalmology) and decided to say hello and goodbye to the safari animals one more time with her. God's creation certainly is amazing!

Jackel, rhino, wildebeast, and zebra on the plains during the annual wildebeast migration

After winning the fight, the elephant on the left was still riled up and began to charge our safari vehicle! We quickly drove off and he gave up the chase. For a recent hospital story of the danger of elephants, click here.

Male and female ostriches

The interns came to my house for a pizza party on Wednesday night. Several of them were unfamiliar with pizza but they seemed to like it as it disappeared quickly! We enjoyed a hilarious game of Catch Phrase and had a wonderful time. I've loved getting to know this intern class through the intern Bible studies and through our interactions at the hospital. I'm sad to miss their graduation in January.

The Tenwek long term missionaries hosted a nice goodbye party for all of us leaving this month complete with gracious speeches appreciating each of us (speeches are very Kenyan and expected at big events - the interns even gave me an appreciation speech at my party the other night).

Our team at Tenwek is already shrinking as we said goodbye to the Cropseys a couple weeks ago. They're back in the States enjoying ice cream, fast food, and extended family. We look forward to seeing them again in Philadelphia at the end of September.

The McLaughlins hosted one last Tenwek Coffeehouse open mic night and everyone got into it. In fact all of the interns participated in a couple songs complete with traditional dancing. I enjoyed being the official photographer :)

And finally, some hellos:

We loved getting to meet our new colleagues and friends at the World Harvest Mission East Africa retreat last weekend. We won't officially become World Harvest missionaries until we attend assessment and orientation and are hopefully approved in September in Philly but we were invited to attend the retreat anyways. We really enjoyed getting to know these like minded missionaries from Uganda, South Sudan, and Kenya and look forward to future interactions with them in the years to come.

Maggie and I at the retreat - I'm really going to miss the McCropder children next year, but I can't wait to say hello to my nephew and niece in Philadelphia next month: Samuel and Emma!