Therefore Go‌
May 2016
Hi there I pray that you are well. I must apologise for having taken so long to write to you and to update you on all that has happened over the last few months. It has been a challenging time for us as a family, but we know that our Lord, who sees and knows all things, has us firmly in His loving hands. Over the last few months Jaime and I started to feel the strain that living in Andahuaylillas was having on our family: Our blueberry plants simply were not producing fruit, our partners in the project were very absent, none of the other endeavours we initiated worked, we had three car accidents in as many months and Kai was struggling at school. Apart from all this, we were feeling very isolated as we lived almost an hour away from our friends and church support. After seeking counsel from our leaders both in Peru and South Africa, we made the decision to put an end to our project and move back to Lima. We were also encouraged to take a sabbatical for a few months as we trust God to refresh and restore us as a family. It is a strange thing when you believe that God has spoken to you about stepping out in faith to serve Him and then everything seems to go wrong. A few months ago a good friend, Selena Headley, came to spend some time with us in Andahuaylillas. After she left, she sent me this article... http://michelephoenix.com/2015/05/five-permissions-missionaries-need/. Although it was written primarily to those supporting missionaries, it has been so helpful to me in this season. If you have a moment, please read it. We have now been back in Lima for just over a month. I must admit that life really is so much easier when you have friends close by, church close by, shops close by, nice weather and a house that is child friendly. Another incredible blessing of being back in Lima is that the quality of education is so much higher here than compared to Cusco. Kai started school today, and although he is still struggling to stay on his own, I feel the people here are so much more equipped to help him. We are also really loving being close to the beach again.
Obviously this is quite a big move for us, one which I imagine seems quite out of the blue. To be honest, at the moment we are still not exactly sure of where God is leading us next, but we continue to seek Him and trust that He will guide us in His will. As challenging as the last few months have been, I am so aware of and thankful for our ministry partnership team that has been so faithful and encouraging to us ever since we decided to move to Cusco. It was such a blessing to receive all the emails, prayers and words of encouragement over the time we were there, many of which arrived just at the right moment. You were an important part in our step of faith as we sought to obey God’s call and we ask that you would continue to lift us in prayer at this time.
Please pray for our family. Pray that during this time of sabbatical God would indeed refresh and restore us as a family. May God restore our vision, our hope and may He strengthen our relationships both as a family and with our friends here in Lima. May we be sensitive to His leading, not only to serve Him, but also to draw away from the busyness around us to spend time in His presence.
Please keep Kai in your prayers. He is a very sensitive soul and is really struggling with adjusting to going to school. This year is still not compulsory so at least we have the flexibility with the number of hours he has to go each day. I have been amazed at how often he speaks of Jesus and knows that Jesus is in his heart. I have been trying to encourage him in the knowledge that even though I am not with him at school, Jesus is. Please pray that God will reveal this to Kai in a supernatural way and that, knowing he is not “alone”, he will start to enjoy going to school.
Jaime and I are so thankful for you. As we submit ourselves to God’s love and leading we pray that He will work all things out for His glory and for our good. Much love Kim