It was exciting to return to Canada -- until we pulled into our driveway. All of a sudden, this place that was supposed to feel like home was just another house. It takes time to adjust, but some things are starting to come together.
We knew it was time to leave Kenya when the earth started shaking under our feet. The last week at Kijabe there was a "swarm" of small tremors. We felt some, but none were serious. We had a final bumpy ride into the Nairobi airport on July 19th before we flew out to Amsterdam. As we were going through Europe, we felt that we should stay for a few days and experience yet another culture. We weren't sure that we liked the congested, liberal culture of Amsterdam. We did enjoy a bus tour to a couple old fishing villages, and an interesting canal boat tour through the historic city. One evening we went to the Anne Frank house where the book came to life.
Toronto felt a bit more like home when we met the Veenstras from RVA in the airport as they arrived in Canada. We were met by Sam Thomas, the AIM personnel director, who took us to the apartment in the AIM office in Scarborough. We woke up at 4am for a number of days, "What do we do now?" was the family's first question of the day. It was an eventful four days as we bought a van, went shopping for new clothes and met the Morgans, missionary friends from Kenya. We ended our stay in Toronto by travelling up Mt. Everest at the Omnimax theater at the Ontario Science Center. Climbing Mt. Kenya took much more effort!
The
two-day
drive to NB was, well, two days of driving. After
coming from heavily de-forested Kenya, we never realized just how many
trees there are in Eastern Canada! My parents had been at
our house
for several days, getting some things ready for our arrival.
Supper was on the stove and beds were ready for us to
sleep in. We really appreciated my parents coming to set up, but it still didn't feel like home. After 35 years of transient missionary life, they understood. The next
morning we went to church at Forest Hills, our home church. It was then that we started to feel
that we were home. What a wonderful welcome!I had a week before I returned to work. It was a busy time, sorting out paperwork, unpacking our things, picking up a second car, and visiting old friends. Bernadine had a job interview, but didn't get the job. Please pray for her as she considers what to do next. I'm back with my old group at Point Lepreau Generating Station, and am already gettting questions about things I was working on when I left!
The kids
appreciate the variety of places they can go with Bernadine
during the day: beaches, parks and shopping, things that weren't easy to do in
Kenya. They have kept their sense of humour through all of
these changes! Evan has reconnected well with several
friends, while Julianne is missing some of the deep friendships she
formed at RVA. The children talk daily of getting a cat.
