After a few
jam-packed weeks filled with tearful farewells, cheerful parties, and sometimes
a mix of the two, I finished out the end of the year at Bingham Academy. The
last four years have been such a life-changing experience- as a teacher, in my
walk with Christ, as a person; if you would like to read a bit more about this
process of saying goodbye, check out my last blog post.
I am now back
in sunny PA, enjoying a bit of the warm sunshine and time with family and
friends. I returned on June 12 and since then, I have bought a wedding dress,
celebrated my cousin’s wedding in VA Beach, and debriefed my last four years at
SIM headquarters in Charlotte. This seems to be a small snapshot of the rest of
my summer as I am working on wedding details and wrapping up my time with SIM.
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| Bingham Academy 2016 Graduates |
As I
reflect over the last four years and anticipate seeing so many wonderful people
this summer, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude. First, I praise God for
the opportunities he has blessed me with, the relationships I have been in, and
most importantly, the people who have supported me throughout this experience. Thank
you to each and every one of you who have thought of me, prayed for my
ministry, and made it financially possible for me to live and work in Ethiopia
for the last four years. I cannot say enough to encompass the joy and gratitude
I have because of you but I thank God for your contribution to my ministry and
to my life in this season. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
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| Andrew and I in our fancy clothes for graduation :) |
After my
June meeting in Charlotte, my time with SIM has officially come to an end. I
have been so blessed and taken care of in this partnership and like to think
that it is a “see you later” rather than a goodbye to this great organization. After our wedding in
October, Andrew and I will be heading back to Addis for the next six months or
so. Before I left Ethiopia, I accepted a job to teach English to adults at
Bridge school. This school is dual purpose as they teach English, but also have
a number of social events that provide a “bridge” to chances to share the
gospel with the students. While very different from the teenagers I have taught
for the last few years, I am excited to try something new in teaching the
basics of the language to adults, while also having a kingdom purpose to my
work.
I do covet your
continued prayers over the next number of months as I begin this new ministry
opportunity in December, but especially for the new excitement and challenges
that await Andrew and I in our first year of marriage. Thank you for your
kindness and care over these months ahead.
Hello. You appear to be a fellow Christ-follower (Praise the Lord!) and the only site I've seen using anything close to what I'm thinking about naming a community I'm creating - Cultural Seasoning. I see your blog hasn't been active in about five years but, as a courtesy, still wanted to make sure you were okay with me using this phrase. Should you see this, feel free to contact me at jamm0356@yahoo.com. Hope you're finding godly success in whatever you're choosing to do at this time.
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