Thank You

Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Thank you dear friends for your cards and emails and flowers and phone calls - for pouring out your love on us during this hard time - our burden has been lighter because so many have come along side of us and held up our burden with us.
We want to praise God for the missionary family that rallied around us during this hard time - They rushed to our sides in real practical ways.... Robin Efing cared for our kids the first day we left (spending the night on our couch!), Carol came to our home and packed Amelia's and Robin's clothes for the trip to California, Jonathon and Lupita booked our air travel and drove us to the airport at 4 in the morning, Aunt Kay and Uncle Leroy came to the house and loved on the kids and Kay ironed our huge pile of wrinkled clothes, Margaret phoned us in California from North Dakota where she was attending a funeral to tell us she was praying and she loved us.... and Jonny and Julie canceled their vacation plans with their dear friends Mark and Rachel who were visiting from Northern Ireland (sorry Mark and Rachel and thank you so much for understanding!) and they stayed in our home and cared for our kids for four days.....
and they all prayed... Robin Efing told us that the morning after we had heard the news she could not sleep very well - she awoke very early and just dedicated the morning to praying for Maddie.
We are certainly forgetting other things that our fellow missionaries did for us during this past week - We are thankful to each and every one.
It is no secret that life on the mission field can be stressful - and that one of the leading causes of stress for people on the field are other missionaries...and as a team we too have our moments. But we can testify that the love and support we felt during this past week was a testimony to the "team" we are and to the beautiful ways we, as a body, are growing more holy and more reflective of Christ.
We are thankful for each person we serve with and for the practical ways they loved on us and our family. Thank you team - we love you and appreciate you.