We are coming home! We found out last month that we cannot apply for visas to stay long term in Europe from our current location. In order to obtain new visas, we must return to the USA. We will be flying home next week. We should be arriving in the States on September 22. We are very excited to be able to come home and see friends and family. We will be in the States for 5 to 8 weeks. We will be applying for our new visas in Atlanta, GA. Beyond our visa applications, we are not sure how we are going to spend our time in the States. Our supervisors have asked us not to plan anything at this point because they may ask us to attend some trainings. We are hoping to be able to take some time to refresh ourselves before we head back out to establish ourselves again in a foreign country.
My head has been spinning this past month with everything that has developed. I returned to South Asia in August to close up our apartment and to manage our belongings. Our Father was good to me during this trip. It was a huge task, but I was able to return to our city of assignment and manage all of our belongings quickly. I packed up a lot of our belongings in SA and sent them ahead of us to Europe. While I was in SA, I got the opportunity to see our old friends. They really enjoyed seeing the pictures of Silas that I showed them. It was a difficult experience saying good bye to all of our SA friends knowing that we may not ever see them again. In addition to packing up all our stuff and saying goodbye to our friends, I took the opportunity to take a language assessment. I was shocked by how much my ability to comprehend the local language had improved since I had left SA. I received my language assessment report back and I have reached the advanced level in Hindi. Reaching the advanced level in my Hindi studies was the language goal of our first term. I am now being told that I have learned enough Hindi to be able to continue to learn it for the rest of my life.
Silas continues to do well. He has had some problems gaining weight. He had a doctor's appointment today and he was able to gain 200 grams this past week. Lena is going to start feeding him solid foods soon. We are so thankful for how our father has blessed us this past month.
Pr@yer Requests:
1. Silas' health
a. That he would continue to grow and be happy
b. That he would be able to gain the weight he needs
c. That he would make a strong transition from eating only formula and breast milk to eating solid foods
2. Safety in travel
3. That we would be able to obtain our new visas
4. That we would be able to have a blessed time with our family and friends while we are in the States
5. That we would be able to make a smooth transition to Europe
