Change. We have had lots of experience with it over the last 5 years and we have more to come. Our original plan when we moved to Zambia was to stay for 3 years. We extended that twice as we weren’t ready to leave Macha or our work at MICS. Since January, Joel has stepped out of his role as director and we’ve been fortunate to have a wonderful local leader take over. Joel meets with him weekly to help mentor him as he’s been learning the role and I’ve enjoyed having a new boss who has been a pleasure to work with.

With all that said, we’ve made the difficult decision that we will return to Canada after the school year ends in December of this year. There are many reasons behind our decision which we are happy to share in personal conversations. But one of the main ones is that we have seen the transition through to becoming a Zambian-led school, we are confident in the team we have set in place and feel it’s the right time to step out of the way. We are excited to see how MICS will continue to grow and thrive, led by people who best understand the culture and context.

But our transition back to Canada also comes with a big dose of sadness. Macha is home. Our kids love it, they have good friends and are all doing well at MICS. I love my role and the incredible team I work with.  We have a dear friends and the pace of life suits us perfectly. As soon as we made the decision, I felt like my heart broke and pieces of it will forever remain on two sides of the world. We are embracing all the feelings that come with the anticipation of such a huge transition and a lot of times it feels hard. There is some fear of how we’ll all do in a life that in many ways feels foreign to us, but we don’t want to let fear dictate our choices and what we feel is best for our family and the school. We know we can do hard things, we have each other and a support system to help us along the way and a God who goes with us.

We have spent the summer in Canada, a trip we had booked before we made the decision to come home. While we normally wouldn’t have made the trip so close to finishing, it has ended up being a good time being with family and friends re-imagining our life here and making some decisions that will help with us with the transition… one of the big ones being that we will return to our home that we are thankful we’ve been able to rent out for our entire absence. While someday we envision a bigger yard a little out of suburbia, for now we need the familiar and can make more major life decisions down the road. 

A few months ago I read through my most recent journal, many pages filled with a longing for our children to experience life in a part of the world that is so dear to us. With many ups and downs (and surprises!) along the way, I am filled with gratitude that our dream was fulfilled and we’ve had the opportunity to call Macha our home. In a few days, we will get on a plane and make our final trip (for now) back to our home. We are all ready to get back to our house and routines and school and friends. We are ready for one more term at MICS, making more memories and not thinking too much about the coming goodbyes. Thanks for continuing to follow along as we once again, choose to mix it up!

Our family at the Macha Dam