Reed Update

What in the world are we doing?!

We are grateful to finally have some answers to this question. We continue to wait, at times with great patience and others with great angst, for all the pieces to fall into place. However, here is what we know so far...

We've just finished teaching at Rift Valley Academy! While it was an unexpected stop and at the beginning we were not too thrilled with it (simply because we wanted to be in South Sudan), we can now say we are very glad we were able to spend a term here. It's been a privilege to get to teach and interact with the kids and staff. It has also been great to form some good relationships with staff here that could end up lasting a long time!

We have some loose ends to tie up here in Kijabe, plus some rest to enjoy, over the next week. July 27-29 we are getting away to a place called Naivasha for a few days with our regional directors to talk, pray and listen before we start the next steps.

Due to the continued unrest in South Sudan it has been decided we should not return this fall as we had hoped. We are uncertain of when things in South Sudan will stabilize enough for us to return and be helpful. 

So, beginning in August we will be spending time in Uganda looking into places to relocate on a semi-temporary basis. We will look at both Kampala, the capital of Uganda and Arua, a good sized city in northwestern Uganda. This does not mean we will not return to Mundri. We simply need to find a place to "settle" until we are able to return. 

The goal is to find a location that will allow us to be in community with South Sudanese people, have good enough communication (internet!) to recruit more people to join us when things stabilize and allow for better access to Mundri.

Both Kampala and Arua offer these things so we want to spend time in each place looking at them through a lens of life and ministry. Arua, in particular, is an exciting option as we've heard there is a Moru community there (the people group we were working with in Mundri) that is large enough to have their own church! This would allow both Theresa and I, Will, to continue in our language learning, something we both want and need.

After 6-8 weeks of this (if you've ever travelled in Africa you'll understand details are hard to nail down so we've left plenty of time!), we will return to the U.S. for a short time. Our focus while in the States is to recruit more teammates, connect with supporters, recruit more teammates, get some rest and, finally, recruit more teammates (want to join us ;)?). I will also be starting my masters degree online during our time at home as well. 

Sometime early 2016 we will return to Uganda (Arua or Kampala) and hope God will open up doors for peace to allow us to return to Mundri during the year. 

During our pre-field training at Mission Training International (MTI) one of the instructors would ask, "What does God do when the missionaries are gone?" and then go on to give many examples of how God moved and worked in the lives of the people while missionaries had to leave for various reasons. So, we're praying this time away is fruitful for both us and the Moru people in Mundri as the Holy Spirit moves in our lives and theirs.