“When I go back I know I shall be out of it: we fellows who've spent our lives out here always are.” -W. Somerset Maugham on returning to England from the far East

Mike and I have no doubts that we will have some level of reverse culture shock when we return to Canada. What is on our side is that we have only been living in a different culture for two years. We had an interesting time at our “Leaving Well” seminar last week. We focused on helpful tips on how to make transition smoother. We also a chance to share personal issues that concerned us about re-entering our home culture. I quickly learned that everyone's situation varies yet we all share a common bond.

Even though Mike and I have found a comfortable niche at RVA and have grown into our new life, we have peace about returning to Canada in August. Mike is ready to return to his job at Point Lepreau. The plant is gearing up to refurbish to extend the life by twenty years.  Mike expects that this will mean challenging and exciting work when he returns to the job he has had for sixteen years. I applied for a part time nursing position in Saint John. I  recently received an email requesting that I contact them as soon as I get back and they will set up an interview. We are looking forward to seeing family and friends again. We are excited about going canoeing, walking in the Canadian forest, and taking fun day trips. On a more trivial level, we are looking forward to the world of  Tim Hortons, Humpty Dumpty BBQ chips, sponge mops and high speed Internet!

Evan has really enjoyed his time in Kenya. What eight-year old boy would complain about having all his friends within walking distance, with lots of warm sunny weather to play outside? He has had fun making “box cars” and sliding them down our steep hill . Evan and his friend Titus worked for days making their grass fort. Since Evan has been in Kenya, he has made many critter friends. He has become acquainted with lizards, chameleons, geckos, flying ants, and glow worms, to name a few! His big aspirations when he gets back to Canada is to build a go-cart with his Dad, buy some more Lego and get himself a gentle and patient Labrador Retriever!

Missionaries are often warned that the worst time to make major family changes is when the children are going through transitional periods in their lives. Oops, it never occurred to Mike and I that our daughter Julianne would be returning to Canada at 12 ½ years old! Kenya has become home to Julianne and she is showing the most resistance in our family to returning to Canada. She has made many great friends and holds many good memories. Some of her cherished moments are going on great hikes with her classmates, having lots of outreach opportunities, and has enjoyed walking access to visiting friends. Hopefully with time and through some discussions, she'll be able to come in terms with the inevitable upcoming changes.

Blankets: We visited the Kijabe Hospital Maternity Ward with our last four bags of baby blankets. The nurses are always pleased to see us coming and enjoy handing out the blankets to new mothers.

One of our missionary families at RVA is trying to adopt Marcus, a six month old with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. I “just happened” to have gotten photos of him at two months old at the hospital nursery on one of our tours with the blankets with my Sunday School class. It was a special to be able to give this family photos of Marcus before they knew him.

Bibles: Things often move slow in Africa! We have paid for 14 boxes of Kikuyu Bibles which are at the port of Mombasa, waiting for customs clearance and delivery to Nairobi.  We are checking every week to see if they have arrived yet.

Feed my Lambs Project:  We've been informed by the committee that few of the project recipients are coming to the special Sunday meal, and they would like to distribute food packages to them again.  This means that we won't be able to have the special service with a meal next month as we don't have the funds to pay for both.  It is hard to make these decisions as there is always more need than we can provide for, but we know that even the small packages of food are very much appreciated.

Bernadine, Michael, Julianne and Evan

	Michael and Bernadine Steeves P.O. Box 80 Kijabe, Kenya 00220 phone: 011-254-20-3246-255 cell phone: 011-254-735-317094 steeves@kijabe.org  www.kijabe.org
	Africa Inland Mission 1641 Victoria Park Ave. Scarborough, ON M1R 1P8 (877) 407-6077 (Toll Free) www.aimcanada.org