Tuesday, August 26, 2008

"Pit" Stop

I am sure that many of you are wondering why we suddenly just disappeared off of the blog. The last few weeks of our orientation are sort of a blur for me. Since most of you are our faithful prayer partners, I am going to be completely honest with you. During a stressful part of our training, I (Jan) began to have panic attacks. There were many days that I was barely able to get out of the bed and put one foot in front of the other. My stomach was so nervous, I was unable to eat. I encountered sleepless nights and long hard days. We were able to finish our training and even go through our commissioning service, but due to my health, we lost our medical clearance. We were sent back to Conyers for me to receive treatment and to heal in hopes that we would still be able to go to Kenya at some point in the future.

God blessed me with a wonderful Christian physician. She felt a connection with me right away as she had just been asked to go on a mission trip to Kenya. After finding the correct medication, she then credited her co-physician, the Great Physician, with a miraculous healing. I now know that God had a few things He needed to reveal to me before I proceeded with His call to international missions. I am feeling stronger and more committed to missions than ever before.

To read the complete story of my healing, click on Stories and Prayers on the right side of the screen and go to “Jan's healing”.

Now, back to our last few weeks of training in Virginia. We want to introduce you to K, our final quadmate. K will also be going to Africa for two years on the Journeyman program. She will be traveling all over taking pictures of what is happening in missions across the world. She is a very talented photographer and I am confident you will be seeing her work in future publications.

Paul and Marlene McKay flew up to Richmond to attend our commissioning service and then drove us back to Conyers by way of a short stay in the mountains of North Carolina. It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for us. Thanks P&M, we love you.


Time Out
Since we have been back in Conyers, we have been staying in the basement apartment of our wonderful friends, Dennis and Julia McClendon. They have not only opened their home to us, but also their lives. They have ministered to us in so many ways over the past 2 months. There have been many others who have reached out to us during this difficult time with words of encouragement, acts of service, and prayers.


We spent this time, attending many doctor visits and counseling sessions and hours of prayer, scripture reading and meditation. We had one very exciting day when our second granddaughter was born on July 16. Meet beautiful Miss Layne Eden Ross. She is now growing well and adjusting to her new family.


It has been a strange time of limbo as we waited to see if we were to begin packing our suitcases to go to the mission field or looking for jobs to stay here. God revealed so much to us about Himself and about His call on our lives. We are excited to tell you that as of today, we have received official medical clearance to go to Kenya. Jeff, Jan and Molly are scheduled for departure on Tuesday September 9, at 4:40pm! God is Good!

5 comments:

Jenn said...

i'm glad all is working out. we have been thinking about you...mom has been keeping me updated. Keep postintg! I can't wait to read about all you get to do :)

heather said...

Thank you for sharing what the Lord has been doing in your lives these past couple of months. We all go through trials in our lives and it is such an encouragement to hear how God used this difficult time to refine you. Sounds like you have more passion for the mission He has called you than even before. I will continue to pray for you in this journey.

Love,

Heather

David Stembridge said...

Hi Jeff and Jan,
we enjoyed having you in Waynesboro this evening, we recorded the service, you can find it here:
http://www.fbcwaynesboro.org/archives/524
What an incredible journey!
Thanks, and GodsPeace!
David Stembridge

Brenton Hippler said...

I had no idea all this was happening, but praise God that you are cleared to go! I'm sure that the time home with friends and and new granddaughter were a blessing.

Carol said...

Hi Jeff and Janet! I'm not sure if you will remember me. My name is Carol Buell ( only now it's Carol Hatcher). My mom and dad are John and Susan Buell. My mom forwarded me your blog link. I have enjoyed reading about what God is doing in your life! How incredible! I will be praying for your journey and new life in Africa. Come by my blog some time for a visit. Good to see you again! ~Carol