Skip to 5:35 mark to watch above

For those will children and grandchildren, you can resonate with the investment that goes into parenting with hopes that your kids will eventually own their faith their own. 

A secret fear of many international missionary parents relates to how the costs and transitions involved in it all will impact our kids. We have heard often the maxim that “kids” are resilient, but there’s lot of research, especially on Third Culture Kids, that suggests they may not be as resilient as we often assume with the pain and unresolved grief adding up to a point where distance from their faith or unravel in young adulthood. (See the “Grief Tower” section at the end of this letter) 

So we share this as some of the backdrop of Morgan getting baptized this past Sunday. She has thought about it at different points – but she wanted to do it when she was really ready to do it separate from us and when she had a community that she believed was hers and that God has used in her life.  

Many of you know, Morgan was a big part of what led us to stay in the United States a little over a year and a half ago. When we were praying about the decision that summer we’ll never forget her looking at us and vulnerably sharing about the prospect of returning to Manila, “I have nothing to go back to.”

This was a step she took on her own and for her and us, it’s a celebration of so much of what God has done in her life and on her behalf through the community she’s experienced at church especially. She would have said 2021-2022 was the hardest year of her life (true for all of us!), but she would say 2022-2023 has been the best year she can remember. And she’ll be going to college with 4-5 good friends as she keeps building depth and continuity in her friendships. This has continued to be a challenging transition for our family, but it’s a powerful reminder that God often has beautiful purposes when He asks us to surrender things to Him like we were led to do with our lives in the Philippines in 2021.

So we are celebrating God’s work in her life and Morgan’s perseverance to learn how to walk with God through everything she’s gone through. But a piece of that is seeing the faith, love, and generosity of God’s people around her in some of those tough moments.  We can’t thank you enough for your prayers for her, for our children, and your support of our family in addition to our ministry efforts.