New Direction

Hello Once Again!

I know we just sent out an update, but the past few days have brought forth some critical developments and we felt like we needed to send another.

This letter is written with mixed emotions.  We have been considering this for the past month, and yesterday made a solid decision.  Our resignation from FMS has been tendered, and our departure date is set for October 31st of this year.

This may come as a surprise to many of you, and we wanted to explain why we chose this course.  The answer is three-fold, the third reason having been just discovered a few weeks ago.
  
Firstly, while we were home in the States it became evident that we should move back to KS and be near Jeff’s mom.  There is so much going on in her life right now, and we want to be there for her.
  
Second, Sarah’s thyroid is giving her some serious problems and her doctor in Botswana is not helping her condition at all.  Since this is the only Endocrinologist in Botswana, our options are few.  She constantly feels sick, tired, and overwhelmed due to the unbalanced hormones in her body.  This combined with the stress of living in a 3rd world country, makes even day to day operations very difficult for her.  It is important that we get her the medical care she needs.
  
Third (the one that came to our attention a few weeks ago), is Tristan’s wellbeing.  We had a visit with his Pediatrician in mid March, and were told that he definitely has Autism.  We have been wondering about this for a long time, and more recently have become aware that something wasn’t right.  After consulting with the Pediatrician, we were counseled to get him some professional help as soon as possible.  We were also told by this doctor, that there is no one in Botswana who is capable of giving Tristan the attention he needs.  For us, this was the final decision maker.
  
Like we said, this decision brings mixed emotions.  We love Botswana and consider this to be home.  When we returned from the States this last time, it really was like coming back home.  However, we need to look out for our family and do what’s best for them.

When we look at it, however, we believe God’s hand to be on this decision.  The reason we were not considering a move back to the States, was that there was no one to take Jeff’s place as the Chief of Flight Training.  However, just last month, God brought a man to FMS who had just retired from the Air Force.  Charles has extensive experience in flight training and will be a perfect fit for Jeff’s position!  This helped us make our decision, as it was almost as if God was paving the way for us to move back to the States.  For the next 7 months, Jeff will help with the busy flying season and will also get everything in the Training Department ready for a hand-over.  He will also be sending in Resume’s and Applications to various companies for employment upon our return.  Prayers are appreciated!

We love FMS and will continue supporting their work long after we leave.  They are doing great things in Botswana and we are excited to see what God does with their future!

We want to thank all of you who have supported us during our 3 years here.  We literally could not have done what we did without your support.  Thank you all so much!  As stated before, we will continue to serve until October 31st, 2013.

Because of Christ,
Jeff, Sarah, Tristan, and Vanessa