serving the Middle East and Asia through engineering design and discipleship
Transitions Again (we lost count on how many)
This update will be short and sweet, because honestly, we have been in the middle of transitions for nearly a month and we are tired!
The goodbyes piled up our last few days in India included the EMI India staff (individually and as an entire office team), our house church friends (multiple times over multiple days because we kept wanting to see them "just one last time"), our landlord who was so helpful to meet all our needs, our house helper, Krishna, who has been such a wonderful blessing to us these past 18 months and cleaned up from every guest and house church we hosted.
After those goodbyes in India, we (along with all our belongings in 2 checked bags and 2 carry-ons), went straight to Spain for the yearly EMI Director's Conference. The days for Chad were filled with meetings on various topics while his nights and free time were spent struggling through a severe head cold. The last gift of Delhi that didn't want to say goodbye was a combination of virus and pollution that finally won the battle for Chad's lungs. Shanthi, thankfully stayed healthy and spent the days meeting with a handful of spouses while exploring the city and the nights trying to sleep through Chad's coughing. ;)
Another round of goodbyes were had in Spain as we departed our colleagues from around the world and met up with our daughters, who had previously decided to go to France and Spain for a week long trip.
And now, just days ago, we arrived in Cairo with warm welcomes from the EMI office team. This will be Chad's 5th EMI office to work out of (USA, Uganda, India, Cambodia, India (again), and now Egypt). We are here for a short assignment to build relationships with the staff, help with an upcoming leadership transition and learn more about working in the local context. We are excited to unpack our bags and settle in for a season, but we know that the goodbyes are coming in a short 45 days!
Our time here will end the 25th of April when we head back to the US for a graduation and a wedding and a long bike ride.
While the goodbyes are many and never easy, we are grateful for the opportunity to work with such amazing people designing a world of hope! Thank you so much for your faithful support, encouragement and prayers which enables us to be a part of this amazing work that God has called us to.
We have not quite experienced the fullest of Jesus' situation in Matthew 8:20, but we were in 4 countries in 12 days and are ready to have a place to lay our heads!
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