Thirteen Years!

Christmas party 2016.  Only one sleepy baby girl and a giddy 10-year-old to shock with mommy kissing Santa in the good 'ol days!

We (Christy and Zach) got to get away for our 13th wedding anniversary on June 29th.  We went to Miango, the place where we went for an orginizational retreat in 2012, three days after I arrived in the country.  The place where, standing next to my future husband gazing over the missionary graveyard, I  told God that I was willing to live and die in this country as so many others had.  Asking in the same breath that he would give me love for his people here and deep conviction of that calling. 

Two months later, we got married in Holland, MI, surrounded by family and friends.  And a month later, August 2012, we moved into our first home in Jos, Nigeria.  I felt called to Zach. I was so homesick for Cameroon, for the community I had made there.  I was filled with expectancy of what God was going to do with us together. A mingling of loss and intense joy as we built a life together. 

We counted over 100 guests in our home the first year we were married, 

 not including the 40 children who came regularly for Bible study. 

We had lots of candlelit dinners those first few years.  Romantic and necessary since we rarely had power. 

From then til now, our family and community has grown.  When I look around, I am overwhelmed by the people God has placed in our lives. People that have challenged, prayed for, and envisioned with us. Like colors in the beautiful fabrics of Nigeria, they are the splashes of life and intricately woven beauty that have hemmed us into this country and her people.  

 

When we got married, Zach was doing language survey and I was doing literacy.  We both moved into Scripture Engagement in 2015 after returning with our masters from Dallas. 10 years later, he's the SIL Nigeria director and I'm at home with 6 girls and community engagements on the side! Zach's term as director will end late 2026.  We don't know what's next, but we've learned that God is trustworthy and his plan for us is for his glory and for our good. 

Please celebrate with us as we drink deeply of these days we have together in Nigeria.