The Road Ahead – Redirection?

We would like to thank all of you for your support, concern, and encouragement for our family as we follow God’s call into missions. We are very blessed to have people like you who want to walk alongside us on this journey. It has been a very tough road and we surely got this far only because of God’s grace and mercy and the encouragement from people like you along the way.

The past few months have been busy with preparation, packing, and planning. However, we received news a few weeks ago that new regulations put in place in October of 2012 by the Nigerian Medical and Dental Council essentially block Maureen from getting a license to practice medicine in Nigeria. This has been the biggest blow to our plans so far. This is not exactly the blog posting we had anticipated writing in late March. We will not be departing for Egbe in April.        

It has been difficult for us and we’ve struggled to share this news. To say that this news came as a shock to us is putting it mildly. We don’t know if this is God closing the door or Him telling us to trust Him through this trial . . . that He will work this out to glorify His name. After some time in prayer, seeking Godly advice, and digging further into the situation, it became very apparent that the road ahead would not be smooth.

We need your prayers more now than ever before. Please pray that we will see clearly the path that God has for us now. As difficult as it is for us right now, we are trying to seek His will. It is easy to say this, but believing it in our hearts is another thing. We have felt the entire spectrum of emotions in the past few weeks. Pray that we won’t let Satan win this battle.        

We’re still praying that God will provide a path to Egbe – in His way and in His timing. We keep coming back to the fact that none of this caught God off guard and simply trust that His will is being done. There have been a lot of people with SIM – in the US and Nigeria – as well as some Nigerians looking into things over the past weeks. For whatever reason, these regulations are there and very firm.    
                                        
While we are praying that the door to Egbe will open, we are also working with SIM USA to consider other options. There are two possibilities being discussed, although neither is for certain – Galmi, Niger and Kijabe, Kenya. For a variety of reasons, an assignment to Galmi or Kijabe may end up being for one year. We would then return home and reevaluate. Perhaps the door to Egbe might be open then – if there’s anything that’s consistent about Nigeria, it’s that there is little consistency.

Please know that we are committed to being used by God and serving long-term. We ask that you join us in prayer as we wait to see what door God opens.

Please pray:

• That God will provide peace and clarity as we move forward
• That our faith will grow through this experience
• That the path ahead will be clear – Egbe, Galmi, Kijabe, etc.
• That God will provide workers for Egbe

We will keep you informed as God reveals His will. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or thoughts.

In Christ,

Tim, Maureen, Luke & Kate

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