Jumping Off

Owen and I are not thrill seekers…despite our bungee jumping past. Our next life change should be easy as these types of things go, but the process is slow and scares us silly.

As most of you know, we have felt drawn to work in HIV/AIDS relief, to serve people with physical needs in Botswana (first me, then Owen, then me again). We have prayed for the desire to go away, but instead, it has only been refined into a desire to serve while supporting ourselves through normal jobs.

We have been offered positions through the Peace Corps, working for the Botswana Ministry of Health! So, we plan to say goodbye to the Little House on Pierrie and this beautiful chapter of our lives for this new endeavor on August 10^th.  In October, we will finish training and begin our new jobs. Despite five extra years of job experience, many development sociology books, an arguable smidgen of maturity, and a realization that our calling is not that different in Manhattan and in Botswana we feel less prepared and less knowledgeable about our new jobs than we would have if we had never experienced Botswana before.

Still, we could not be more thankful to be working under the supervision of a local boss, to be back in a country where we already have a support network of church and friends, and to go where we (sort of) speak the language. God is good. Life in Manhattan has been wonderful. Being close to you all has made newly married life rich and extravagant. We will miss you. We are not asking for financial support, but we desperately need your prayers---and we would love a picture or two of you to put on our fridge (or wall) in Botswana.