Another round of goodbyes

on Saturday, August 15, 2009

Many people told us that one of the fringe "benefits" of being a missionary is how many times you say goodbye to good friends. That's been the theme this week, as the trimester in language school concluded and many of our new friends are heading to the field. Today, we grabbed some pizza and met our friends Anders and Jessica at a park nearby to say goodbye to them and their kids, Addie and Boden. Anders and Jessica became fast friends these past few months and will really be missed. They're off to Chile to serve the Mapuche, an indiginous group South of Santiago.

Later this afternoon, we're going to visit Ronnie and Amanda (and kids) and say so long. They're off to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to plant a church there. They were our "Big Brother and Sister" who welcomed us to Costa Rica by finding us a place to live and stocking our fridge with food. They too, became close friends here and will be missed. So long also to David and Carol, and Darlene, classmates at ILE and close friends. David and Carol work as missionaries in Newark, NJ with World Impact. They serve a large population of Ecuadorians there. Darlene is returning to Mexico City where she's served for more than four years, supporting a church plant there and doing outreach to the poor.

What a blessing it's been to see God's will and call on other's lives and enjoy fellowship with them for a time. We're really excited to hear from these folks and receive reports from how God is using them in their different countries. And at the same time, our hearts ache somewhat to know that they're gone and we may never share the same time and experiences again.

Grace and peace,
Seth (and the gang)