Well, here we sit on our last day on the Africa Mercy. Two years of life is packed into 4 checked bags and a couple carry-ons. Tomorrow morning we will board a bus to ride 8 hours to Antananarivo, the capitol of Madagascar where we will spend the night. On Sunday we will fly to Nairoba, Kenya; Amsterdam; and then Minneapolis (total flight and layover time about 36 hours) . . . and then we will be home.
The boys will pick us up at the airport and we will spend a couple days with them in a hotel catching up and trying to get our sleep schedule straight (we are 9 hours ahead of Minnesota). Then comes Christmas with the Sandin and Tveite families.
We should be excited to get back to our "normal" lives and we are. However, we are also sad and torn at the relationships we are leaving. Our investment of 2 years of our lives in this journey has paid off in so many ways. We are very much richer people for the investment.
Now comes the job of reintegrating to the community we know and love in Minnesota. We ask for your patience as we go through the stresses of leaving the mission field and returning to a place where normal isn't quite normal for us anymore . . .
We can't get back into our house until March so will be living with some incredibly generous friends. We plan to get back into many of our previous activities, church, hockey, golf to name a few. But we are also going back without employment plans. We know we will work, we just don't know what that looks like yet. We aren't planning to rush into anything, everyone we know from the mission field advises to take your time and adjust to your community before you make any big decisions.
To those back in the states who have helped, prayed, supported in our journey, again THANK YOU!! We look forward to updating our relationships!
To those on the Africa Mercy that we leave behind, what can we say to people who have wormed their ways into our hearts . . . we have built wonderful friendships with people from literally all over the world. You will all be welcome in our home anytime! Speaking of that, we intend to have a place to provide a respite for those who are returning to the US or are just visiting or driving through southern Minnesota. Should you ever find yourself wanting or needing a place to stay, please call or email . . . seriously!!!!
To those who have followed this incredible journey through our blog, this may be our last entry . . . then again, maybe not!! Either way, we hope that you have experienced a changed view of our world through these words and pictures.
May God bless you!!!
Matt and Denise
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