Home again, home again...

 Our cheeks started burning when we read the date of our last blog entry… And even more since we have not updated it since we returned home four months ago! Life happens, we guess, and we will not try to find a multitude of excuses for our long silence…. However, we did write a couple of newsletters in the past year and you can download those from the column beside this blog. Since our last letter was at Christmas, we will give you a few highlights from our last three months (January-March) in Mattru Jong.

Okay, we sneak in one December picture since we could not include it in our shorter Christmas letter. Here is Jon making rounds with his son Robert who came to visit early December. Robert just graduated from Physical Therapy school. We thoroughly enjoyed his short stay with us!

At the beginning of January, a beautiful office space became available for Nyandengoh! for a good rental price! The building is about a five minute walk from the hospital, which helps us to continue our collaboration with them for the medical care of the children.

Mid-January, doctor Richard Toupin and his wife Cathy (nurse) arrived. Richard, together with a Nigerian physician, has taken over Jon's duties for this year. Unfortunately, Covid has shortened the stay of Richard & Cathy and we don't know how long it will be until they can return to Sierra Leone.

As usual, the annual medical team from America came to visit at the end of January. In addition to doctors, nurses and an X-ray assistant, there were this time also physical therapists who have been able to help with Nyandengoh! That worked out very well, especially for the children recovering from orthopedic procedures.

Two teams of Engineers without Borders arrived around the same time as the medical team and each spent two weeks renovating an education room in the hospital and rebuilding a home for hospital workers who should be able to sleep close to work when they are on call.

The first weekend of February, a wish came true for us: we visited Sherbro Island, the large island that is part of Bonthe, the district where we have lived for the past three years. After a beautiful two-hour boat trip we arrived at this historic island where we admired historical buildings, enjoyed tasty fish and explored beautiful beaches. It was well worth it! We were also grateful to be offered a boat ride by World Vision on the way home so we did not have to board this overloaded ferry!

Also in February, Nyandengoh! welcomed two new colleagues. Abdulai is a nurse we met during his internship in the hospital. He loves children and enthusiastically ensures that our children receive good medical care. Every month he visits the villages by motorbike to deliver epilepsy medication to children who need it. Miatta is a young woman who has just finished high school and has an eight-month internship with us to see if she likes this job and is suitable for it. The children love her and enjoy her attention. Together with Esther and under the leadership of Sylvanus they continue to ministry of Nyandengoh! in our absence. 

Mid-February we made our last trip to Freetown. A church from America organized a missionary retreat there on the beach. It was a wonderfully relaxing time with old and new friends, and the spiritual input we received was as welcome as water on dry and thirsty ground.

On the last day of February, the hospital organized a farewell party for us, of course

filled with many speeches, delicious food, music, dancing and gifts.

With Hospital Administrator Abdul Karim Mustapha.

 The next day (Sunday), we said goodbye to Fleming church, where we had attended most frequently. The days after that were all about wrapping up, packing up and saying goodbyes. Although it has been three tough years, we are also happy with the many friendships we have made in Mattru. We told our friends that we definitely want to come back regularly in the coming years to help with Nyandengoh! and in the hospital. With the travel restrictions of Covid-19 we have had to adjust our plans and at this moment we are not sure yet when we will be able to return.

In the meantime we are counting our blessings as we visit with our children and grandchildren, enjoy our home and garden and – despite Covid regulations – enjoy a lot more freedom and entertainment than we have had for the last three years! Of course we long for things to return to normal but for now we are content to wait and seek to honor the God who does not make mistakes and uses every season in our lives for his glory.

Thank you for your interest in our blog – we are planning to continue using this medium to stay in touch with you all. If you have not subscribed yet, please do so today to not miss our entries. Also, you may want to check out our Nyandengoh! website on www.nyandengoh.org.

Blessings to you all!

We leave you with two pictures of our abundant garden and produce.