New friends

We said goodbye to many, many good friends in Woodland Park, but we also know that we'll make new ones.  It's a blessing to already know some, both in person, and through email.  Meet some of our new friends:

We first met the Beckers at our candidate week at AIM's headquarters in November of 2008.  Their daughter is a year older than Faith, so they won't be in school together, but I'm sure they'll find plenty of time to play together!  Karl is a English teacher and Laurel will be helping out around the school like Heather.  They are departing the states with us in a few weeks and will attend orientation with us as well.

The next family we came into contact with was the Unruhs.  They have four children, all of whom (I think) were born in Kenya.  Faith and Rodney have been at RVA for many years, and so through numerous emails back and forth, they have helped us prepare and know what to expect and what to bring.  They serve as dorm parents and Rodney is the school purchaser, which means he travels to Nairobi frequently.

The Shirley family moved to Kijabe in November, and unlike the other families in this post, they live outside of the RVA campus because Rhett is a doctor at the Kijabe hospital.  Megan stays busy with their three kids under 4!  Claire is a year younger than Faith, but they are looking forward to meeting each other!  Megan and Heather share a love of smocking and Southern Living magazine, and Heather has appreciated Megan's fresh insight and advice from their recent move.

Our most recent contact has been the Gonzalez family.  Tony and Bethany attended candidate week in August of 2008, have been preparing just like us, and will depart with us in a few weeks.  Tony teaches history and Bethany is a Chemistry teacher.  Their two kids, Ellie and Marcus, are exactly the same ages as Faith and Joel!  Heather had a few friends in Woodland Park that had same age and gender kids, and was praying for another family like that, so what an answer to prayer!