All that Goes into Moving Across the World

Wheeeewwwwwww....is all I can say.  The last few months have been a whirlwind, to say the least.  I don't remember the last day or night we had some down time.  If there isn't any normal activities going on (Titus, church, Awana, MOPS, Pre-school Co-Op, pre-school at home, Community Group, Mickey busy at the fire station and at second job-Wells Fargo Events Center, cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, raising and shepherding our 2 dear children ages 4 and 2, other family activities, holidays, birthdays, exercise, doctor's appointments, sickness, what am I forgetting?  Oh yeah, sleep.  Love me some sleep! All though, none of us are getting enough of it these days. Besides all that, we are preparing to move to a 3rd world country several thousands miles away.  This is not a small thing!  Let me just share with you a glimpse of the process.  I say a glimpse because I don't think anyone can fully understand unless they are in it.  I thought I knew what missionaries went through but I quickly found out I had not a clue.

1-We have to raise support. I shared in an earlier post (click here- Zambia Info and Support Letter) about why we need to raise funds to make this year happen.  How do you go about raising support?  Well, you start with an informative letter.  This was quite the task!  We explained why God is calling us to do this, what we will be doing, and asked people to support us with money and/or prayer.  THIS WAS DIFFICULT! It is hard to ask your friends and family for money!  We know how hard people work and how tight money is for many.  But we also know we can't do it without the generosity and sacrifice of others.  We are the ones actually going to the mission field but by supporting a missionary, you are essentially a missionary!  You are a sender and God needs those too.  We can promise to anyone who chooses to support us, that your money will be used for so much good.  You will be part of something that will be life-changing for potentially thousands of Zambians (and definitely life-changing for the little boy we adopt!).  And I mean truly life-changing!  We are going there to help Zambians learn to support themselves and their families (through farming methods and education), not just give them charity.  If you would like to  support us, I will be posting our letter and our support form in the next blog!  And if you already have our letter/support form, would you consider partnering with us? We need you!

2-We have to be authorized to adopt by the U.S.  What does this entail?  First, we had to find a certified adoption investigator.  Yes, that is a real job.  Zambia doesn't work with any U.S. agencies so we needed to find someone independent of an agency.  Thankfully, there was one listed on a website and she was right in West Des Moines.  I met with her to discuss details and she was fabulous, so we hired her!  Next up was our homework...physicals for Mickey and I, get copies of latest well checks for kids as well as immunizations records, copies of all our documentation, get fingerprinted, and fill out a ton of background information and explain why we want to adopt.  We also scheduled our 1st of 2 home study visits.  This means our investigator came to our home and we needed to share with her about our lives growing up and what our life is like now.  That went great and our final home study is on March 28th.  By that study, we need to give her 4 letters of recommendation, which some of our wonderful friends and family are writing.  She will also need to tour our home and she plans to discuss with us how we plan to help our new child feel at home here in America.  After that, she will type up our recommendation!  Then, the only thing left is to send in the approved home study to the U.S. (along with $720, yes, and it is 3 pieces of paper, how our government is broke, I have no idea) and then we will have official clearance from the U.S. government.  This has been a lot of work, so we are excited to have this about ready to go so we can focus on some other aspects of our year over there.

3-We have to prepare our house for either renters or to put for sale.  I have never de-cluttered, organized, and cleaned so much in my life. Enough said.  This has been exhausting, especially when you have two children who immediately destroy whatever you cleaned 2 minutes prior or when your 4 year old sees the toy you are about to get rid of and has a complete meltdown even though he hasn't played with it in two years.  :)  Gotta love it!

4-We had to buy and pack items to be put on a container that was thankfully already planned to be shipped to Zambia because of 2 other missionary families from our church who are going there for full-time ministry.  I say thankfully because this was huge!  You might think things are cheaper in Zambia because it is such a poor country but IT IS NOT!  Everything (except fruits and vegetables) is more expensive or not possible to get.  So, because of this container, we were able to put beds, bedding, cookware, other kitchen items, curtain rods/curtains, rugs, and other housing essentials as well as some clothes, food, and toys for the kids.  This will be such a blessing to already have this stuff when we get there instead of having to go find it and pay triple for it!  While it is wonderful, this has been a ton of work.  Trying to think and plan ahead of what we might need in a country that I have never been to?  HA!  It actually got sent today and I am so glad that I can stop thinking about what we should/shouldn't put on that container.  What is on it, is on it now!

5-We have been formulating a vision and plan for what to do while we are there.  We are trying to make sure we do what God has for us, not what we think we should do.  This takes a lot of prayer and quiet time to hear God.  And if you just read all of the above, you can just about imagine how much quiet time we are getting around here.  At the same time, we are also wanting to not get ahead of God or demand that we know exactly what He wants to do with us while we are there.  Part of this coming year in Zambia will be putting all of our trust in Him and walking with Him day by day, step by step, in blind faith.

6-We have to emotionally prepare ourselves, our children, our extended families, and friends.  Mickey has been there 3 times.  I have never been there.  If I am being honest, I am struggling with knowing I won't be able to call my mom at any hour or go to my weekly Titus Bible study or have playdates with friends (among many other worries).  Mickey has never missed some events at the farm he grew up on-like harvest and deer season-this is tough to think about.  Our kids know we are moving to Africa for a year and they are excited.  But let's be honest, they have no idea what they are signing up for!  We are trying to slowly warn them of the differences between here and there, but it is still going to be a complete shock for them.  And our dear families and friends, we will miss them so much and we are sorry we will be gone.  I know there is some deep sadness on both sides of our families and all we can do is pray that God will provide them with peace and comfort during this year.

As you can see, we have been busy bees!  To put all of this stuff on top of the regular demands of daily living has been trying...but God is so good and He has already shown us time and time again that going to Zambia is exactly what He is calling us to do.  We are resting in that blessed assurance from Him.

Young girl walking, notice no shoes!  

Mickey trying to figure out how to play the national sport-soccer!

At a school 

Love this sweet little face!  Wonder what he is up to now! Mickey took this 4 years ago!

Beautiful Victoria Falls-this will be about 6 hours north of us!