Well Dear Friends and Family,

We are safely back in Pennsylvania, at my (Jon’s) parents’ place near Reading. We completed eight weeks and one day on the road, 12,720 miles, 28 States, and numerous wonderful memories!

We were able to have more wonderful visits with family members on Melissa’s side, Uncle George and Aunt Claudia Donner and cousins near Rochester MN, and Uncle Malcolm and Aunt Barbara in Minneapolis. Then we caught up with the Saunders family in WI, which was so neat since they were Drew’s dorm parents at RVA. Then it was on to Wheaton to see more of Melissa’s cousins Tara and David and her Uncle Stan and Aunt Miriam. We stayed with her cousins Jim and Bev Barnett and Great Uncle Bill in Peoria IL. Then in Elkhart IN we saw Melissa’s Uncle Cal Donner and cousin Greg. Since Elkhart is so close to Michigan, we swung up to have lunch with Liz Lampen, who was one of our homeschool teachers for a year in Magambua – so neat to catch up with her!
In Ohio we got to see some of my cousins and Uncle Gary and Aunt Dawn, then we celebrated my grandmother’s 90th birthday with lots of family members in West Virginia, complete with a family Jeopardy game and Talent Show.

So you would think since WV is so close to PA, that would be the end of the trip, but just for kicks we threw in a trip to Florida to see Melissa’s mom again, a great time with Shosho, including a trip to the Kennedy Space Center.

On our way back to PA we stopped in Georgia and saw…… you guessed it, more Barnetts!, Uncle Ted and Aunt Martha, and also visited AIM’s US headquarters.

Praise the Lord we found a buyer for our car here in the States (we had to scrape a lot of bumper stickers off the windows!),and we have been cleared by mission headquarters to return to the field.

So, with trunks and duffels packed, we head to the airport Monday. We’ll be in Tanzania by Tuesday evening the 11th. Please pray for safety as we travel, that the kids would all do well with adjusting back to Tanzania and then RVA in Kenya for the boys. We are excited to return to the place the Lord has called us to, but it’s also a bittersweet time as we have been saying farewell to so many wonderful friends and family members these last few months.

Blessings in Christ,

Jon for all of us