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Several months ago we wrote about our decision to return
home to live, but continue to work with our Africa team remotely.
Since that time, Craig’s assignment has expanded to include some exciting new
opportunities. Our dear friend, Alemayehu,
has become the director of the newly formed Eastern and Southern Africa Area of
SIL. He has asked Craig to serve as his
consultant for external relations and legal affairs.
This assignment will allow Craig to work directly with
Alemayehu on issues impacting many different countries in East and Southern
Africa. This new position will allow him
to pull from his past experiences working at both the international and
in-country levels and it will also allow him to continue work that was
initiated while serving in Dar.
Just to give you an idea, in just over one year, Craig has
had over 60 meetings with Government Ministries of Tanzania and
Regional/District government officials ,
Non-Governmental organizations, Donor nations to Tanzania, National Networks,
Church leaders and Universities to serve language communities seeking to bring
spiritual transformation to their communities. All of these opportunities were from the hand
of God and we praise him for his faithfulness.
Our journey while here in Dar has allowed us to explore many
different areas of this beautiful country in our short time here. Here is a
list of places we have traveled: Iringa, Mbeya, Malindi (Kenya), Entebbe (Uganda),
Arusha, Zanzibar, Nairobi (Kenya), Bagamoyo
, Musoma, Mwanza, Selous, and Ruaha. It’s been a busy but amazingly rewarding
time.
The new assignment
will begin on January 1, 2013. In the meantime, we are starting to pack and say
our good byes. It’s hard to believe we
leave in less than 2 weeks. (Craig will
stay until September). So, after our
return (and catching up with much-missed family and friends!) we plan to take
part in the Bell Shoals Missions Conference and then do some traveling to visit
other friends and churches, and hopefully determine where we will ultimately
call “home” for this next stage in our journey.
In early November, we will take
part in a program Wycliffe has for missionaries returning from overseas
assignments.
It seems like so much before the end of the year! We are looking forward to our return and hope
that we will be able to see everyone soon!
We know many of you have stood in the gap for us over many years and we
are truly grateful and humbled by the support and partnership in the work. Thanks for going on the journey with us!
