Goodbye, again

The Chedester Family will leave Uganda and World Harvest Mission in a little over two months from now, after a dozen years of service. They have served our team over all those years, hosting us when we had to evacuate, tracking down hard-to-find-supplies, processing paper work, managing mail, even simple kindnesses like shopping for vegetables or reminding us when our licenses are expiring. They were invited by Paul to be our link to the world by living in the more-accessible Fort Portal. But their ministry became much broader than that, supporting the church there, mentoring youth, teaching, praying, and raising a family including three children adopted from Uganda. They have been part of the fabric of our life for so long, it is hard to imagine the gap they will leave. Like most of us, though, the life-stage of their kids means access to more schooling options would be helpful, and the changing environment of Africa means that their gifts could be used even more fully in another setting. They hope to join AIM as dorm parents at RVA. So our lives are likely to continue to intersect, but this goodbye stands as another Ebenezer. By God's grace we have reached this far. But another parting takes its toll, too. We were thankful to be able to really honor their long years of work by our whole team hosting them at the Kingfisher, by silly songs and skits, by serious prayer and remembrance.