hellos & goodbyes

One of the hardest things about moving overseas was saying goodbye to everyone in the U.S. that we know & love. Settling in here hasn't really eased that difficulty at all.

Emma & I were just talking this afternoon about the many things that we learned about this subject at MTI. How you have to embrace the goodbyes in order to be ready to enjoy hellos! With the nature of our ministry there are teams coming and going all year round, and wonderful people that we welcome, we have treasured fellowship with, and then have to say good bye to again.

It doesn't get any easier - you don't ever get used to it. So we are elated with arrivals, we share & laugh & love during time spent together and we often cry as cherished ones depart. 

Another thing that we learned is that we must always give a proper "goodbye". It honors the time that we spent with an individual, gives value to the meaning that they have in our lives and let's them know how treasured they are in our hearts.

Today we said our goodbyes to Anna Brown, our first short-term teammate! With her summer internship completed already, Anna headed back to the U.S. this morning. We were sad to see her go. Her gentle nature & zany humor brought joy to the many children of Haiti who's lives that she touched during her time here. Her huge smile & golden locks will be forever linked with the love that she showered them with. Their gorgeous faces were captured in her photographic work for our annual updates, as well.

We pray many blessings on Anna as she re-aclimates to life in the U.S. & prepares for school to start back up in a few weeks. Join us in lifting her up as she processes the multitude of experiences that she had this summer and allows God to use them to direct her future.

We MISS you, ANNA, already...!!

(picture Tynan & David waving you off into the distance

& us all being here hoping for your return visit again, one day soon.)

Ovwa~~