Some Resolution

Just to recap, we came home in December on a combination of vacation time and medical. We thought that we'd be able to get whatever was going on with Josh's heart cleared up in the three weeks we allowed ourselves, and then make it back to Tallinn. However, the medical part of the trip ran long, like we mentioned in the last post. Actually it still isn't cleared up, though we pray he's getting closer to an answer. Obviously, we've long since run out of vacation time. When that happened we had to transfer into medical clearance to be home.

What we've found out is that usually when short term personnel have to go home for medical leave, they are given a month to get the situation cleared up and then asked to resign. The Board was really nice to Josh and I; they tried to let us get healthy and go back. However, since everything hasn't been fixed, we ran out of time. Monday they asked us to resign. Everything was done very graciously, and they are taking good care of us.

Obviously, we're very disappointed that we won't be going back to Estonia. We had every intention of returning and do feel that we left a certain amount unfinished. About a year ago, I wrote down our call to go and serve in Estonia. Now, I'm glad that I did; I'm also glad that Josh and I shared that with all of you. We're still every bit as certain that we did as we were led to do; the outcome doesn't change the calling. We both know that there is a larger plan at work for us and for the country of Estonia.

As a matter of fact, we still have teammates there serving. They are doing wonderful work: reaching the culture through the university, a book club, a couch surfing organization, a children's school, and other volunteer groups. So, even though we're no longer there, I'd ask you to keep praying for the people of Estonia. We're so excited about the possibilities.

Thanks so much for keeping up with us through the months. It was a hard stretch of time considering all of the health difficulties, but we're incredibly thankful for the experience and wouldn't trade it for anything.


Megan & Josh

Stateside

Hey everyone,

Many of you know that Josh and I have been back in the States for about a month now. We came back December 18th for a combination of vacation and medical time. On the 9th of January, we were supposed to go back to Tallinn; however, the medical portion of the trip really hadn't kicked into full gear yet. Today was to be the day that we'd reset to go back again, and again, we're still working on the medical issues. Now, we've penned February 2nd as the day.

Josh has had different health issues going since the week before we left for Tallinn, in March. They all seem to be unconnected, very random illnesses: two chronic bacterias in two random parts of the body. He's also had a third problem that began in August: chest pains, fluctuating pulse, palpitations, weakness, etc. Since all of it has been going on so long, we wanted to come home and knock everything out, then go back to Tallinn strong and healthy.

Please pray that we get down to the bottom of this third problem, and can completely kick it and the other two (which have been lingering around). We don't know the rhyme or reason why the medical problems have shown up in full force now; however, we know that, "in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). Please also pray for that date, February 2nd, as well. Josh and I know, much more now, that our timing is definitely not always God's, but it's a goal to shoot for anyway.

All that being said, Josh and I are ready to get back. All of the health problems have thrown some of our plans for a loop, and delayed others much more than we'd hoped, but we're still committed to fulfilling what we've been called to do. Again, we're continually thankful for you and your prayers. The body of Christ hasn't ceased to amaze us.

More Daily Life

Daily Things

Finn-tastic!

Back from Finland! We had a great time getting organized and energized with our team this week. We spent some time discussing how we can use our strengths in ministry and the directions we'll be taking in the near future. I'll tell everyone more about that soon!

We also got a little taste of home: Pizza Hut and Subway! Small things, but wow.

On Monday, we'll start back to language school. It's the second part and bound to be more challenging for us. Please keep that in your prayers and the relationships we've started there, too.

To Ikea and beyond!

Hello all.

Today was test day. The Estonian university system works like this: there's a semester, then that semester is divided in half. After each half there's a test. Hence, today was test day. Josh and I are glad to report that we did pretty well (we think) on our language test. Thanks to everyone who has lifted us up on that account.

Now, we're catching a nice break. There's a week off between the 1st half and the 2nd of the semester. So, on Monday we're going to catch a ferry to Finland. It'll be our first trip to Helsinki. The purpose of the trip is for some team meetings (goal setting, planning, ikea, etc). It should be a great time. Expect pictures.

Tonight, we're going to meet up with a few of our classmates for a birthday party. Please pray that we can get to know them a little better, and that we would be able to share the love of Christ with them.

Catching up...

Over a month ago we started language school. We go everyday in the afternoons. Most days it's incredibly challenging. It's cool to be learning another language; the downside is that it occassionally makes your brain hurt. In a few weeks Josh and I will be making a little video to show what we do and where we go for day to day stuff, and I'll be sure to post it in the blog so you can check it and get an idea of how life is over here.

This past weekend was a little out of the ordinary for us. We were invited by some friends to join them at their country home. In Estonia, almost everyone has a country home that they go to on the weekends. So, we went down to the very southern part of the country with them. It took about 4 hours to drive from the very top to nearly the bottom. On the way down, we saw the first signs of snow on the ground!

When we got there, they took us around to all sorts of different landmarks: the highest point (a really big hill), a "desert", some granite cliffs, caves, an abandoned Soviet military base, and nature reserves. It's a really beautiful place, not to mention it was great just to be out of the city for a few days.

Most interestingly though, we had the traditional sauna experience. Basically, you sit in the sauna and someone slaps you a few times with birch limbs (like exfoliating), and then when you're too hot to stand it anymore you run outside and jump into the nearest body of water (if there is one) to cool down. Even when the water is iced over in the winter, they'll go and chip it away so you can jump in. It actually felt pretty good, even though it was just about freezing outside.

Spiritually, it's a step in the right direction. As we've been for months, we're allowing our relationships with these friends to grow. Please pray that they will see the mysterious presence of Christ in us. We've not been able to have conversations on that level, but pray that when we do, our actions will have spoken ahead for us.