Restoration

     A lot has happened since we last shared the sad news of Sombo’s death in March. Late March brought Heleen’s niece Francis to Sierra Leone. Together with her friend Koosje she spent almost six weeks in Mattru as part of their gap-year program at a Bible School in the Netherlands. Highlights included weekly meetings with the children with disabilities that Heleen has been working with. It was beautiful to see the children flourish as they participated in fun activities in a safe environment. During their stay we also welcomed Joe, a final-year medical student from the UK, Michelle, our UB Global director, and Hannah, an X-ray technician from the US.  Their presence and help in the hospital were a real blessing to Jon. Dr. Richard and Cathy Toupin arrived in April to stay on during part of our upcoming leave. Knowing they would be there part of our time away made it easier to leave the hospital behind.

This girl with Down Syndrome loved baking peanut butter cookies!

The meetings gave us an opportunity to observe the children's skills in a safe environment.

Jon & Joe on rounds. 

Hannah - always full of joy and compassion.

     We have known since we left for Africa that we had to return the US to update Heleen’s green card.  After two years of a temporary green card, you need to repeat fingerprints, and that only can be done in America.  So in January, we were notified that she had an appointment for seven days later to get her fingerprints in New Orleans.  We wrote back to reschedule the appointment, and they soon had rescheduled, again for six days later.  That time interval is next to impossible in a foreign country, so we spent a long time researching and calling America for a solution.  Several of the people we were able to talk to after finally getting through to immigration were helpful, but their advice and special tips were all unsuccessful.  But one person did advise us to write and explain our situation and we also saw on internet that some people advise just showing up for fingerprints without an appointment, and throwing yourself on the mercy of the fingerprinting location.  So we wrote a long letter to immigration, explaining all about our problem of staying in a remote area in Africa, and that we would like an appointment in May.  We then bought tickets for our leave and hoped to show up for the fingerprints.  There was no answer to that letter.

    We arrived in America for a much needed break, and made plans to go to Salisbury, MD, close to Jon’s parents’ home in Delaware for the fingerprints.  However, it was uncertain whether they would accept someone without an appointment, and so it was with great relief and an answer to prayer that we got a letter from immigration after the three month of silence and it stated that they had reviewed the case and they would use all the information from the last time that Heleen had her interview, including the fingerprints!  We have never heard of that happening before, and in fact, if that letter had arrived before we left Sierra Leone, we probably would have stayed on until next year.  The only explanation is that we had a huge need for a break and it was so special to see family and friends again, in America as well as in the Netherlands.  We think God reached down and touched the psyche of some immigration officer with pity and we thank God!

     So began a wonderful time with family and friends...it was a blessed five weeks.  We were able to meet our youngest granddaughter, born while we were in Africa.  Her name is Lily, and she is such a cute little girl, as I am sure you will agree after looking at her picture.  Not to be outdone on the cuteness scale were our three grandsons, who were just such a delight to talk to and find out what is happening in their families as well.  Our children are continuing to follow the Lord, some of them with new careers, so it was a special time to catch up with their lives.  And in the short time there, we were also able to go to Delaware to visit with Jon’s parents.

Lily - nine months old, in a dress worn by her mother and made by Grandma Dawn.

The boys loved seeing Greenie again and made sure he got introduced to their new living environment! 

David & Amber with Patrick & Lily.

Celebrating our third wedding anniversary! 

"Papa" got to read many stories! (with a few cousins of Ethan & Caleb in the mix)

Father & Sons :)

Getting to know Lily. She warmed up to us pretty quickly!

Celebrating Ethan's fifth birthday.

Stephen & Amy.

    We were saddened to hear of the untimely death of Michael Josiah, our trusted surgical technician.  His illness was sudden and occurred soon after we left Sierra Leone.  “Josiah”, as we called him, was married only 3 months before his death (see our blog of January), and had selected Jon as his “Godfather” for the wedding.  We never were quite sure what all the responsibilities of that position were, but spiritual and emotional advice, as well as monetary support… This news hit us very hard, and we felt for the team members that were still back in Mattru struggling with this severe trauma…It was and continues to be a devastating loss for the our team here in Mattru.

Michael Josiah on his wedding in January.

    On to the Netherlands, where we were able to help Papa and Mama van den Brink celebrate their 55^th wedding anniversary, and also to get together with Heleen’s brothers and sisters and their family.   Heleen also met with her professor there and with the encouragement she received, has felt the go ahead to continue with her doctorate studies. 

    A precious time, a renewing time, but it feels like home again when we come back to Mattru…the car is sputtering, supplies are short in the hospital, and we are scrambling to keep up with the work---yes---we think we are home…

We were given this picture (of the prayer time at the end of our presentation at our home church) to remind us of the many people praying for us at home. It has been a real encouragement to hear how many of our friends have had a burden to pray for us.