2011 Christmas Letter

(Doug) I am writing this Christmas letter on a foggy grey day with the temperature outside hovering around freezing. No snow on the ground and the weather experts tell us we will have a green Christmas. Ugh. But a fire is burning in the fireplace, our old (plastic) Christmas tree is back up, lit beautifully in the front window for all to see and our family is relatively healthy and happy.

This has been a transition year for our family. By the grace of God and help from family and friends we have managed to make it a good one. Some time in the past Wanda & I were given a 'stress' test to measure what level of health risk we were at. Our transition years; 1996, 2001, 2007 and now 2011 would measure pretty high. I found the test at this link in Wikipedia, called the 'Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale', and by using this, we're right up there on the charts again this year; 288 which puts us at moderate risk of illness (300+ is 'at risk'). We are in good health, thank the Lord, as evidenced by the report from the insurance company who ran tests on Wanda & I to make sure we were within acceptable parameters health wise (and we were). In case you want to check yourselves on how stressful a year you had, here is that link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_and_Rahe_stress_scale

• Transitions: Here are the transition highlights and lowlights for us

  • May and June – Saying Good-bye – We're not good at this yet.

    

    We haven't figured out how to finish the work at hand, pack everything up and say good-bye to friends and partners at work without leaving loose ends. We didn't realize we should write a letter 30-60 days prior to our leaving to all MCC partners so that they would have a chance to say good-bye. It makes sense, closure. Some partners did find out and some gave us wonderful farewells. Others found out late and were disappointed they couldn't give us a farewell. To be honest, the 1/2 dozen farewells we had were just about all we could handle emotionally. For each partner it is but one meeting, but for us the emotions happen again and again with each farewell. The stress test didn't have a direct accounting for that so I added all the change factor points in.

    
    

  • June-August – Saying Hello – As we made plans to stop in Europe and travel to see friends and family, with at least 15 pieces of luggage, we kept telling ourselves that this huge effort would be worth it and someday, in the future, we would look back and be very glad we did spend those weeks in Europe. I believe that to this day.

  • In Amsterdam/ Almere we were hosted by family, Miriam and Bob Phillips. In the midst of their busy lives Bob & Mim accommodated us and our luggage (stashed in all corners) and let us crash in two rooms of their small urban Euro-home. We ate Dutch/American meals at their table and listened with fascination as they talked about their ministry and their lives as outsiders to becoming part of Euro-Dutch culture. Many highlights;

  • visiting the fastest growing church in Holland

  • riding public rail into Amsterdam

  • visiting the Rijks Museum, downtown Amsterdam, Anne Frank House

  • visiting Singelkerk on a Sunday when a Mennonite church choir from Winnipeg filled the empty space with beautiful music

  • visiting the cheese sale in Alkmaar and and the windmills in Zaandam

  • driving a car from Almere through north Holland, over the sea dijk to Friesland and back down to Almere in one day

  • watching Bob drag his potted blueberry plants into the shed as a storm approached (and then Bob telling the girls to pick those delicious blue berries and having them for breakfast!)

  • The girls discovering Stroopwafels for breakfast

  • Travelling in the train from Amsterdam to Basel overnight and back during the day.

  • In Basel we were hosted by 2 families; Andreas & Manuela Kohler Martin and by Bruno & Heidi Sagesser-Rich. Andy & Manuela made arrangements for us and the Sagesser-Rich family generously gave us the run of the 2^nd floor of their home, a large building with a business on the ground level and their home on the first and second floors. Again, so many highlights, but here are a few;

  • Seeing Andy & Manuela again after all these years and meeting their family!

  • Wonderful Swiss breakfasts at Heidi's table.

  • riding the public rails in Basel, walking the streets of the city

  • visiting churches, museums and shops in Basel

  • Sunday service for a combined Swiss Reformed and Anabaptist group at the Reformed church where the Reformed hosts, inexplicably, performed an infant baptism on that Sunday!

  • A day trip south into (formerly) Anabaptist territory (Emmental, Langnau, Trachselwald castle) and over to Lake Thun and Interlaken

  • A day trip into the Juras, where I lived and worked as an MCC trainee near Tramelan.

  • A supper with Ernst & Ruth Sprunger after all these years. A supper meal with Aschli and Mary Friesen Amstutz and their daughter Anna, making new friends along the way.

  • In Canada and U.S. We travelled to visit friends and family after we arrived back in Toronto on July 12. For two months we stayed in Tavistock above Quehls Restaurant and at the Roth grandparents.

  • For those two months we travelled to visit family (Amstutz grandparents in Kidron) and then on to Pennsylvania and Virginia as well. One highlight was to meet up with our 'Ethiopian' friends in Harrisonburg, staying with Glenda Hostetter and her daughters at their house and with Darren & Cindy Schaupp and family when they came up from South Carolina.

    

  • August-October – Getting Settled – By the time school started we, as a family, were very ready not to live out of suitcases any longer. Some highlights include;

  • School – 'We can make it happen' Those words were music to our ears. Rockway Mennonite Collegiate was the school our daughters hoped to go to and although Wanda & I hoped for the same, we didn't think it would be possible. But a visit to RMC followed by a meeting with Tom Bileski made it happen. So far so very good. This is one blessing of many we are grateful to God for.

  • Work – Wanda was offered the interim pastor job at Stirling Ave. Mennonite Church and she began in September. She has had a great experience in the church, enjoying the leadership and the congregation. We all have made friends there, it's been a great church to 'land' into from overseas. What have I been doing? Yes, a question I hear often. We made the decision that, unless 2 jobs opened up immediately, one of us would organize the transition/ move. That has fallen to me. I have been the unpacker, the organizer, the handyman and the housekeeper. I have put my resume/ MLI into a couple of places but won't hear until the new year. In the meantime I have also been an MCC storyteller (Goshen, Indiana and Albuquerque, New Mexico) and will have 2 more stints; one in January in eastern Pennsylvania and in Harrisonburg, Virginia and one in February in Wayne/ Holmes counties, Ohio.

  • House – Another priority in August was to find a house. We eventually found a fixer upper in a good location to shopping areas and highway access in Kitchener. We got sticker shock looking for housing that fit our basic needs (we have a 4 bedroom house but with a postage stamp size back yard, we are in the city but on a busy street, the price was comparatively normative in this current market but lots of work involved). We moved into 153 McGarry Drive in Forest Heights on October 4 and have been renovating ever since. Carpets on the both floors taken out, painting and trimming done. Several windows replaced, complete overhaul of ensuite bathroom. We're almost done with stage 1. Stage 2 will be renovating the kitchen.

    

  • November-December – homecoming – As we continue to open luggage and boxes from our past and place it in the present, the house is becoming a home. I travelled for almost 2 weeks in November as an MCC storyteller and on the road I began to anticipate my homecoming. It will probably take some getting used to but at this point we will be continue to be city dwellers for the forseeable future. Here are a few points of living I have observed thus far at 153 McGarry Drive;

  • If you don't have curtains, the lights shine into your bedroom windows brightly at night (so does a full moon).

  • We'll just pull up the carpets and paint. I didn't anticipate how much work goes in to all that; it all takes time to prep a room for painting, much less the time it takes to paint.

  • Walking is free! And walking unaccosted is a freedom I no longer take for granted. No one bothers me when I go out and walk for exercise. Plus it costs me nothing to walk.

  • Water/utilities are not free but they are easy and clean. I can brush and rinse with water from the faucet. But I still cringe to hear my daughters take long showers (anything over 3 minutes is long). I just heard from the couple who replaced us that they are without water again and have to call in the water tanker for the MCC compound. I may never take water for granted again. I have stopped worrying about whether the power will go off in the middle of a TV program or internet download. Great story; one school day at Rockway, the power goes out for a couple of minutes. Kids start screaming but my daughters say, what's the big deal? Teachers admire our daughters' calmness.

  • Internet/phone is expensive but fast and reliable. OK, Ethiopia has the most expensive internet/ telecommunications in Africa but I sure miss my Nokia phone and calling anywhere in country for a relatively cheap price. Only the caller pays, not the receiver. A big rip off in North America to have both pay.

  Finally, Milestones:

  • March 2 – Our 15^th wedding anniversary. Now we do celebrate our anniversary every year with a special meal or event. But our personal tradition is that every 5 years Wanda & I do something extraordinary and each time it's been more extraordinary than the previous time. At our 5^th it was a weekend at a B&B in Baden, Ontario (with 3 very young daughters taken care of by the grandparents Roth, thanks!). At our 10^th it was 10 days of visiting spring training baseball in Florida in March (again, our girls hosted by grandparents Amstutz, thanks!). Our 15^th was a trip for 2 to South Africa, Pretoria and Capetown. We rented a car in the Cape and travelled down to the tip of Africa and up into wine country. An amazing land with a heart wrenching history and a hopeful future (special thanks to our dear friends, the Hostetter family, who hosted our daughters for 10 days!!! And to our friends in Pretoria, Jason & Mary Trego for their warm hospitality).

  • March 4 – my 50^th birthday. We celebrated that in the Cape as well as in Addis. The only thing that made it special was to be with my wife and friends.

  • April 8 – Amani and Abigail's 13^th birthdays. Our daughters have become teenagers. We have had golden years with our daughters up until now and I hope that continues. But we are bracing for growing pains. At any rate it is great so far!

  Night has fallen on this shortest night of the year in the northern hemisphere (Dec. 22). The fire still burns. The family is home.

  I wonder what the next year has in store for us. In the meantime we are grateful for the basic necessities of life; health and access to health care, shelter, food, utilities that are clean and constant, transportation and income. We remember that many don't have these basic necessities/ luxuries (a vehicle is that, no?). We are are grateful to live in a western democracy. Yes, I know there are problems here with politics and politicians, but compared to other places, we are fortunate.

  Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  In Christian peace and love,

  Doug, Wanda, Amani, Abigail and Sophia

  153 McGarry Drive

  Kitchener, ON N2N 1A8

  Canada

  
  

On the Road Again

Here's a familiar feeling from the last 4 years; marking time in an airport, waiting for the gate to open. When we arrived in Toronto in July I was happy to be finished with the airport routine. The security is irritating (take off your shoes, your hat, your coat, empty your pockets, raise your arms as you walk through . . .), the seating is cramped (oh no, what to do if my seat mate spills over onto me?), dragging our luggage through security and paying for carts to move it . . . yep, glad to be done with all of that.

Yet here I was, anticipating more travelling. My on-the-road-again feeling competed with my good-to-be-back-home-again feeling. There was much work to be done at our house, I wasn't happy to let that all for Wanda and the girls. But the thought of meeting old friends and connecting with new ones was exciting.

So I was off to Akron, PA to meet with MCC folks on the itineration, then to Goshen, IN to do storytelling and finally to Albuquerque, NM to wrap up my flying tour.

Was this my first time? Nope. In August 590 News in Kitchener did a radio interview with me. Wanda and I were on a CTV news spot at the MCC Thrift Shop in New Hamburg. In September I visited Conrad Grebel University College to participate in a panel discussion on food and peace issues. In October Wanda & I led a chapel at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate. I also did some storytelling in a number of churches on the Sundays in October (Stirling Ave., First Mennonite, WKUMC in Kitchener and East Zorra in Tavistock).

So I've been feeling more and more comfortable in each setting. In Goshen I spoke at the MCC Alumni gathering/ potluck, offered a mission moment at Waterford MC and did storytelling in a young adult SS class. I was up front at Faith MC in the evening storytelling again. Monday I was at MCC Great Lakes offices over lunch for a short presentation, then on to Goshen College to speak in Jan Bender Shetler's 'History of Global Poverty' class. Tuesday I visited MMN's offices, then to AMBS to present during the lunch colloquium on Mission and Peace with Walter Sawatsky and Ted Koontz, then wrapping up at Bethany HS in Dan Shenk's Church History class.

In Albuquerque I'll be speaking together with my sister Anita in a Saturday evening session, a storytelling duo! And Sunday I'll offer a sermon at AMC. Then on Monday I get to go back home!

But that won't be it for me, I have agreed to at least one more itineration; going down to PA and VA in January to be in another round of churches, schools, institutions and groups.

It is my hope that God is using this time to nudge people here and there to think of ways to do service or at least continue to support the work of those serving in MCC 'in the name of Christ'.

Getting You Up to Date

So many of our good friends and family have asked us to keep them updated and I haven't forgotten. But it seems like; 1) time has flown by since we landed in July and 2) I haven't had a moment of rest to ponder and report all that has happened. But I need to be honest and admit that I am no longer a great diarist/ journaller/ blogger in terms of regularity. Haven't been for 20 years (yikes).

So what has happened since our big trek through the summer? Well, we settled down in Kitchener, Ontario. Wanda had a job waiting as an interim pastor at Stirling Ave. Mennonite Church and the beginning of September she began. She is 'back in the saddle again' and likes it. It was hard to know how she, or I, would feel after having been gone doing a different job for 4 years. But really, an MCC Country Rep position has alot of similarities with a pastoring position, especially in the land of Ethiopia where we worked closely with the Meserete Kristos Church. There are highs and lows in pastoring and that certainly is true as well with the CR positions.

Our daughters were anxious all summer about where they would go to school in the fall. We had mentioned Rockway Mennonite Collegiate to them as a possibility, but I don't know why. It is a private school with fees, it's not free education. Were we setting them up for a fall (from high expectations?). We approached Rockway and a date was set to come visit the school with our girls.

As we walked through the school with Tom Bileski, our guide and director of admissions, as he explained all the opportunities in Rockway for a well-rounded education, I began to feel tugs on my sleeve intermitently from each of my daughters, Dad I really like this place, I want to go here to school. Wanda got the tugs too. I didn't know what to say other than, no promises, we're going to look into it. Finally it was time to send the girls outside and go into the office and talk to Tom. The long and the short of that conversation was this; 1) your daughters are the kind of students we want to have at Rockway and 2) we'll make it work to have them come here. They were willing to take into account our 4 years of MCC service and work with us. We are truly grateful. And of course our girls were beyond excited, it made all the tension, worry and wait worth while. God is good.

So what about me? I often have gotten the question, in one form or another, have you found a job yet? The short answer is no, but a qualified 'no'. We did not have a house, vehicles and our worldly belongings were spread out from Ontario to Ohio. It made sense to both of us that one of us would work for money and the other would work for the family. We found a house at the end of August, put a bid in on it, a bid that was providentially accepted (even though the other party bid a bit more). But we couldn't move in until October 4. What to do with Wanda working and our girls going to school in Kitchener and us living in Tavistock above Quehl's Restaurant? Once again the kindness of friends and God's care intervened. Our friends Peter & Cath Woolner invited us to live with them in their Kitchener home until our house closing. We gratefully accepted and for a month we lived together in peace and harmony. Still, having one's own home and space is the desire of all families as well as not to impose on others.

Since we finally moved in on October 4 it has been a whirlwind of activity. I have managed to round up all our storage stuff from Ohio and several places in Ontario. We were blessed to have my parents and my brother Lon for a short week helping us paint, pull up carpets and get all the bedrooms in live-in condition. We have also finished the family room, contracted with a home renovator to redo our ensuite bathroom in our Master bedroom. Stage 2 is waiting for me to finish painting and pulling up carpets downstairs in the living and dining rooms as well as move in some furniture we bought before calling it a wrap up on the 1^st phase of our home make over.

And back to the question, what about me? I have been following job opportunities in Kitchener that relate to pastor or conference openings. I can still feel my blood flowing when I am in church. I still enjoy relating to people in the church. I still enjoy sitting down and preparing a service and sermon. I still look forward to connecting with peers and colleagues in the ministry. I could try to get back in the classroom and teach. I could wait and see if a position opens up in MCC Ontario. I truly don't know what I will be doing a year from now but I can envision myself in ministry (as well as the other aforementioned jobs).

But what I still feel called to do is to work in the church, whether it be ministry, teaching or in MCC. If the doors open, as they have in the past, then I will take it as a sign that the Lord still has a need for me to work in this part of His Vineyard, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

Housing Update

The fact that we have been homeless from the time we landed has been wearing on us. Even as we were enjoying our summer of travels to see friends and family across Europe and North America in the back of our minds we knew that we needed to work on housing. For better or worse we began looking in earnest in August and our target area has been Kitchener, Ontario.

After our daughters were given the green light to attend Rockway (after a wonderful afternoon visit with admissions person Tom Bileski and principal Betsy Petker) it became clear that Kitchener would be the focus of our attention over the next 6 years. Wanda has a job in the city and I hope to find work here as well. So now it was time to look for houses.

Those who have house hunted before know that it is hard work, physically and emotionally. We went through up to a dozen houses physically and hundreds online before Wanda found one in the classifieds in the local newspaper. It was a house in the Forest Heights area of town on McGarry Drive. We arranged through our realtor to go see it. The previous day had been a fiasco with the girls who were so disappointed with the houses we saw (us too) so Wanda and I went without them. When we arrived at 153 McGarry the thing that set this house apart on the outside was the well kept perennial garden and the arched frame to the door. A good beginning. Then the look inside.

Opening the front door I immediately noticed the staircase right in front. There were rooms on the left and right and a short hallway to the back of the house. Every room (except the kitchen) was carpeted, including the basement rooms. There were mirrors every where. And everything in the house was dated 30 to 40 years back. The house was built in 1971 so no surprise there but it was surprising that nothing had been updated.

However we were struck by the solid character of the house. Old but in good working order seemed to be the phrase we said over and over again. The carpets would need to go but there was solid hardwood under the carpets. The windows would need to be replaced but they still functioned. So did the sliding doors for the closet. I liked the idea of an ensuite bathroom and we knew that our daughters would like the idea of each having a bedroom. The basement was was listed as 'finished', a generous description but there was some liveable space. The bathrooms and kitchen most needed updating but it was all doable, hopefully by amateur home remodelers (like ourselves).

The backyard was also maintained as a garden space, again I was happy to see flowers, plants and trees in the small space. The garage acts as a storage shed which isn't so bad but unfortunately our vehicles will have to brave the cold Ontario winters (as will we).

There were some important upgrades to the house; a new furnace, new chimney, new roof; all good solid upgrades. Some leaks and cracks were fixed but we may have to get back to that.

We took the girls back the next day and as they toured the house they would circle back to say, I really like this house, I really want to live here. Abby has her own way of coping with things she really wishes for; she becomes grumpy and angry. I'm learning this. When I asked why she was so grumpy she said it was because she wanted the house so badly that she would be crushed if we didn't get it and so she was mad that she was caring so much for it! A new way to express desire.

We then told our realtor, Evelyn, that we would like to submit an offer to the seller. So we all went over to the realty office to draw up the papers. It was there we found out, from the realtor listing the property, that another party was planning on coming in that day for a second look. The owner (likely being counselled by her realtor) did not want to accept our offer until the next day. So we waited until Saturday.

We drove first to our realtor's office Saturday morning where several changes were made to the offer. We had initially planned to offer $12,000 less than the listing price because of the history of the neighbourhood (a number of homes had ended up being sold for less than the asking price) as well as the money we would have to put in the house after purchase. But with the other buyer we upped our bid by $10,000. Now we were close to the asking price. We also heard that the seller wanted until the end of September to stay in the house so we said ok. Finally our realtor advised us to drop as many conditions as we could so we dropped all of them but financing. Then we went to the other realtor's office.

To our surprise the seller was in the adjacent room. I got a glimpse of her but we didn't greet each other. We stayed with our realtor, Evelyn, in the room next door making small talk. Ian, the seller's realtor, wasn't there yet. Finally he arrived and invited Evelyn into the other room to meet the seller, then on the spur of the moment, he invited us in too. We were introduced to each other. Evelyn introduced us as returning missionaries with 3 daughters who loved the seller's home, especially the 3 bedrooms that they would each have! We all smiled at the impetuousness of youth. Then we began to review our offer.

After the review, Ian and the seller went upstairs to review the other offer while we waited again. By now we were pretty sure our offer was not going to make it in this hot housing market. Surely the other party would offer more. And when Ian came down again with the answer we found out that indeed the other party did offer $3000 more than us, just above the listing price. But what was significant was that the seller was willing to entertain a counteroffer from us. Perhaps $2000 more and a push back of the closing date to October 4? Also the appliances stay? Surprised and gratified, we quickly reviewed our position and agreed to the counteroffer. Shortly thereafter the seller accepted.

There was much rejoicing in the room with Wanda and Evelyn and myself. Wanda called her sister and our girls found out, more loud rejoicing. Now we need to get that funding squared away, a lawyer to transact our business for us and an insurance company that will insure our house. But for the moment we rejoiced.

The post-game analysis was fun because we won our home. One thing we have learned in bidding on houses is that if one can convey one's story to the selling party, it may help in the sale. Three times we believe it has done exactly that; our first house at 809 Market in Scottdale, our 2^nd house at 1 Woodcroft in St. Catharines and now at 153 McGarry. In each case our situation was conveyed either by letter or verbally by the realtor. I think that people would rather hear about a family coming in and loving the house to live in over some person wanting to simply 'flip' the house after major renovations. We wouldn't be able to prove that this method worked but anecdotally we heard evidence in all three cases that strongly suggested this was the case.

And so now we wait (im)patiently for October 4, making do until then with preparations and details.

Sights and Sounds of Summer

We are in Kitchener again after having been on the road for almost 2 months. Already, in the midst of our joy of seeing family and friends, we are ready to have a place we can call our home. But before we get to that allow me to give you a thumbnail sketch of what we have seen and heard this summer;

• weather – As the onset of the rainy season approached in Addis, I began to feel that same depressing feeling as in rainy seasons before, cool, clammy and muddy. No one finds it fun. Any weather in Europe and NA would be an improvement over this, I thought. We landed in Amsterdam to cool and rainy weather, sure felt familiar. But overnight the weather turned sunny and cool and since then we have experienced wonderful weather. What about the hot, humid weather you encountered that one day in Friesland or the weeks of oppressive heat in Canada and the U.S.? Yep, you are right, the heat was oppressive but I was just grateful to be here to enjoy it.

• Travel – living out of a suitcase for almost 2 months is hard and on our final long journey from Akron, PA to St. Catharines the other week the girls sorta melted down. We knew we need to stop being in motion and land somewhere, which we have finally done (at least the travel part). Travelling with lots of luggage is a royal pain but we survived both legs of the travel (see earlier blogs). Driving our 'new' minivan was fun, good thing that it has lots of room. We had to pick up 4 suitcases on this last swing through the states and even after doing some major shopping (twice!) at 2 large malls with great prices we still don't look like the Beverly Hillbillies!

• Room & Board – I won't tell you how much, or little, we spent in Europe or even as we spent 3 weeks travelling in NA but it couldn't have happened without, as the Beatles once said, a little help from our friends (and family). The generosity of folks in Europe meant that we not only could visit Holland and Switzerland but not break the bank (of our volunteer funds). Bob would fix up a large mug of coffee with frothed milk, almost breakfast unto itself. Miriam gave up her counselling room for the days we were there so the girls could sleep in it. They gave us their car to travel to places like Friesland and gave us invaluable advice on where to go and what to see. Our girls fell in love with 'stroopwafflen' and we all enjoyed the cheese. In Switzerland Heidi and Bruno opened their home to us, a large house where our girls could hang out in one room and us in another. They and our friends Andy and Manuela took us around Basel as well as day trips into the Emmental and the Lake district to Interlaken. What great days we had! We were hosted by Aschi and Mary Friesen Amstutz, Ernst and Ruth Sprunger and Daniel and Teresa Gerber. The food and fellowship were great, we will long remember.

• Wide, Open Spaces – It's hard to describe to folks who haven't lived in a compound all their lives, or even 4 years, what it feels like to be in the wide open spaces of North America. Sure there a fences between properties but nothing like the walls in Addis Ababa. Additionally our girls never ventured out alone in Addis nor did they want to go far into public anyhow. They stood out and were an instant attraction, much to their dislike. So to hop on a bike and ride up and down the streets of Kidron or Tavistock was such a freeing experience for them. I also loved the fact that houses, even in cities, were not closed away behind high walls. And of course the beautiful fields of grain were wonderful to behold, especially at night with a thousand points of light from the lightning bugs in the fields. The sound of the cicada on hot summer days, the chirping of crickets on warm summer evenings. The moon waxing and waning, the summer sun; relentless by day but a glorious ball at sunrise and sunset. Walking fields and pastures, on streets and along roadsides. No one ogling us when we walked, probably the most freeing.

• Home – No, I wasn't clicking my heels like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, but there were times in the past month, after we landed, when I would say to myself, there's no place like home. To channel an old Paul Simon song, everything eastern North America, from Ohio to Pennsylvania to Ontario seemed like it was in Kodachrome, those nice bright colors, those greens of summers, makes you think all the world's a sunny day, oh yeah! A feeling of release, of freedom, of coming home, of seeing family and friends again. In some ways it feels like starting over; house, jobs, school for our daughters, new city. At the beginning it felt very freeing (now, not so much). But I still marvel at how it feels, at times, like living in a parallel universe between Africa and North America.

'Setting Up Shop' in North America

After 4 years out of circulation in North America we landed. Maybe not immigrants but certainly needing to establish ourselves again, almost like starting over. Where to start?

First of all we needed wheels. Without a vehicle life is very difficult in North America. But you don't want to buy the first vehicle you see, do you? Fortunately our good friends, Dianne and Fanosie, lent us their minivan until we could find something. This is a profoundly moving offer. You don't find folks who lend without expectations in return. Our friends did and we are grateful. We were able to visit Ohio and my family when my sister and her husband were in town and drive back to Ontario.

And we did find a minivan when we expected not to buy. We went shopping in Stratford one afternoon with Wanda's father. Strickland Motors runs 3 large car lots; new Toyotas, high quality used and heavily used. We looked at several used vehicles and nothing felt right. They suggested we look at a Toyota Sienna in the lower end lot so we drove over as a last resort for the day. The Sienna looked well used, a no go. We were ready to leave when the salesman got a call from our first salesman in the other lot, they just got a 2004 Nissan Quest SE minivan in, very clean. They had just unloaded it off the truck and were washing it, could they drive it over and show us? We were hot and tired but agreed to wait a couple of minutes.

When it came we looked at each other. It was indeed clean, inside and out. The engine was relatively clean and certainly sounded good (to a non-mechanic's untrained ear). It was loaded with everything we would never afford on a new vehicle; power everything including side door and hatch back, sun roofs, built in GPS, multi-disc CD system, heated seating, DVD player (this would be the clincher with our daughters). It had a funky dashboard; a circular console in the center but not weird enough to dismiss it. It had 146,000 kms and they set the price at $9,950. They would clean it up for us, would we want it?

After deliberation (rather short compared to other times we bought vehicles), we said yes. Wanda's father, Wanda and I all thought that it looked very good, in fact it almost sounded too good to be true. We needed a quality used minivan and this seemed like it was landing right in our laps. Yes, let's do it.

We ended up paying over $10,000 after taxes but it was in our 10-12,000 range. We scrambled to buy auto insurance but by Saturday morning we had both the insurance and the Nissan Quest. It was fully cleaned up inside and out. It looked new and even smelled somewhat new (leather seating will do that).

We did also buy a pay-as-you-go Nokia phone and signed up with Rogers. It is an 'unlocked' phone, not connected to any long term contract. I still have to get used to paying when I receive a call. A big rip off but what can one do? Us consumers have to rise up in protest, if they can get away with it the phone giants of the world will.

We also bought a computer; a cherry red Dell. We thought we wouldn't buy a Dell again after some problems with it in Ethiopia. But when we brought home a Toshiba Satellite and it started acting up from the get go, I immediately retreated to the only Dell that Future Shop sold. It's true that I would normally buy online but I decided to buy local so I could get it serviced locally. Like the phone this is a stop gap measure for the summer and short term until we get settled. It will work for now.

We also re-established our residency with the Province of Ontario by renewing our OHIP cards. This was a huge thing we did the first day we were in country. Having health insurance the moment we land and not having to worry about our medical future is a huge load off our minds. We both agreed that unless we had jobs to go to in Ohio we wouldn't land there. It made all the sense in the world to land in Ontario jobs or no jobs. Too bad more Americans push for this in the U.S. If the U.S. had had somehow passed national health care back when the Canadians did I guarantee that Americans would never allow any politician to touch this just like the vast majority of Americans won't let the politicians touch Medicare and Medicaid . . . or maybe they will. Over the next year we shall see.

We still have two big things on the 'to-do' list; finding a house to rent or buy and getting our daughters into a good school. Of course a job for me would also be helpful. So friends and family, hold these in your thoughts and prayers for us over the next month.

Jobs

So many of our friends and family have asked us about what we are doing next and we want to update them. Obviously what work we will be doing has been a prime topic of conversation in our family. Our daughters have asked us often until we told them, when we know you will know.

Wanda interviewed for an interim pastor position at Stirling Ave. Mennonite Church in Kitchener, Ontario way back in June just before we left Addis Ababa. It was a Skype interview that was interrupted several times when the line dropped. However Wanda and the search committee seemed to hit it off very well in their short conversation. Then life got very busy again as we focused on final packing and leaving Addis.

We were in Europe when we received an email inviting Wanda to be the interim pastor for Stirling Ave. She was delighted and quickly responded yes. Since then both we and folks on the search committee have had busy summers. But Wanda expects to follow up as soon as we return to Kitchener (mid-August).

So now the question falls to me in some form, what will you do? I can say that I have actively pursued pastoral or church positions in both Ohio and Ontario, even a teaching position in a western state. I was invited to an interview at a church in Ontario and currently I am 'in the running'. I am hopeful although I will not despair if I am not invited to serve as pastor. Wanda and I have always talked about God opening doors in our professional lives. Some doors may close but others may open and I am optimistic about my opportunities. I feel good about my education and experience.

My daughters also need jobs; jobs as students. But where? We continue to hope that we can get them in Rockway Collegiate, a Mennonite 7-12 school in Kitchener. That will also have to be pursued in mid-August.

In this way our lives are unsettled but in other ways we feel fulfilled as we visit friends and family. The time will come when the doors will open.