Monday, January 2, 2017

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!  God willing, 2017 is the year we are moving to Africa!  We have spent our Christmas break packing the basement and moving those items into our storage area (John's mother's basement...thank you Mom!!)  The girls' passports arrived in the mail and we have scheduled our first Sunday School Class to share information about our Mission.  The year has started off great!

We have been reading Families on the Move, Growing Up Over-Seas and Loving It! by Marion Knell.  The book shares how to prepare our family to move to a different culture.  Once we move to Africa, our girls will be considered MKs, or Missionary Kids.  Another term used is Third Culture Kids, or TCK.  The book discusses the strengths and struggles typical MK's have.  This information is not only helpful for our family, but also in preparing to work with MK's at RVA in Kenya.  

Our niece, Elizabeth, graduated from RVA and is now a Resident Assistant in Germany at Black Forest Academy, a school similar to RVA.  On her blog, she recently posted the feelings of one MK at her school.  Elizabeth wrote:
At the beginning of the semester, I asked one of my girls if she considered the country in which she lived “home.” I wasn’t surprised to get a hesitant answer. For many of my girls, no place in the world feels like home. They’ve grown up in two (or three or four) worlds, moving multiple times to different countries and even continents. They’ve lived in transient communities, where people come and go with the seasons. They’ve said goodbye to friends and given away pieces of their hearts to those they love along the way.
You can read the rest of Elizabeth's post, Home is Where the Heart Is at :
We are excited to share with our friends and family more about our mission working with MKs and their families.  Please let us know if you have a group of friends or an organization that would be interested in hearing more about our mission.  This could include groups like Sunday School classes, or small groups and civic groups such as Optimist Clubs, Red Hat Societies, and sororities.  Please email us at jbmyrick@aimint.org.

Several people have offered to pray for us. THANK YOU!!!  If you want to join our prayer team, then email us or reply below and we will add you to our list.  Here are our current prayer requests:
  • Please pray for God's guidance and for our thoughts to be clear as we share with Sunday School Classes on Sunday, Jan. 8.  This will be our first time sharing together as a couple, so please pray that John and Becky find a balance that works for both of them.
  • Please pray for our friends and family.  Pray their hearts and minds will be open to learning more about our mission.  
  • Please pray for the students and staff returning to RVA.  Classes start soon and it can be difficult for the students to return after being with their families for the holidays.  Pray for the staff's wisdom to support the students.
  • Finally, please pray for our financial support.
Thank you for your prayers and support!!
John, Becky, Gracie and Ruthie