Reunited and it feels so good….How great to reconnect with friends and family! When we first arrived home this summer, every conversation involved catching up on an entire year of activities. We were grateful for each opportunity to learn of mountain tops and valleys, of new births and burials, of jobs lost and graduations celebrated…of life’s circumstances molding and shaping the people we love. We listened and we shared, and it was life-giving. We are constantly amazed by the incredible people we are privileged to walk with through each new season and situation. “Thank you” to our friends and family for continually making us feel supported, cared for and loved.
- While home, Nancy was ordained as a Minister in the PC(USA). The outpouring of support surrounding this event encouraged our hearts. A BIG “thank you” to New Life Presbyterian Church and all the people who contributed to making the moment unforgettable.
To Everything There is a Season, Turn, Turn, Turn… Kenya is a BEAUTIFUL country. While living there, we soaked in our surroundings with awe and wonder(the great Rift Valley, the beautiful skies, the Indian Ocean). America is also a BEAUTIFUL country, yet the two are quite different. Unlike the seasons in Georgia (fall, winter, spring, summer), the seasons in Kenya include: the short rains, the long rains, and the dry time in between. Until I moved to East Africa, I did not think about the fact that some people have never seen leaves change colors. Since we were home this fall, we realized that absence does make the heart grow fonder. Our appreciation for the brilliant colors of autumn was heightened this year. 
It’s a Small World After All, A Small Beautiful World…While living in Atlanta, we have been presenting to groups and congregations about our work in East Africa. We spoke on over 30 occasions and were humbled by the opportunity for Shelvis to share through an interview on CNN (click here to view). With each opportunity, we told the stories of the people who inspired us in Africa. We felt as if we were introducing new friends to old friends. We delighted in the opportunity to remind fellow Americans of our connections in mind, body, and spirit with our neighbors living across the ocean. Across the ocean, we can learn from one another. We can be enriched, challenged, convicted, and united by our similarities and our differences.
- We spoke with a College Presbyterian Campus Ministry in Spartanburg, SC
Our connectedness with global neighbors overwhelmed me this Christmas season, when I met a man named Benjamin. I was at a “Multicultural Christmas Celebration” organized by the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, when an older man approached me and introduced himself. He told me that he reads Shelvis and my website updates regularly. Benjamin worships with a church in Conyers, Georgia but is connected with several churches in Mexico. He translates our updates into a specific dialect spoken in Mexico and sends the translated updates to the churches in Mexico. “They are praying for you,” he said.
- High School Classmate and CNN correspondent Brooke Baldwin interviewed Shelvis on CNN’s Faces of Faith
How is it possible, I thought to myself, that churches in Mexico, filled with people I have never met, are praying for me? My understanding of our connection to all whom God creates was deepened in that moment, strengthened by Benjamin’s willingness to reach out to me, sweetened by the faith and love of people in Mexico willing to pray for a unknown young couple, European-American and African-American, who are serving alongside Kenyans in ministry several time zones away. God is indeed great and this small world quite beautiful.
The Atlanta Globetrotters…We are hitting the air again, returning to East Africa. I (Nancy) will leave Dec 29th for Nairobi, Kenya where I will go through training before heading to Southern Sudan. We are continuing the Presbyterian 
Church’s Young Adult Volunteer program, yet this term I will be working with an organization called “Across.” Across has been engaged in community development in Southern Sudan for over 20 years and focuses on holistic transformation, in the areas of education, health, economics and spiritual formation (www.across-sudan.org). I will cycle between program implementation in Southern Sudan (4-5 week stays) and work in their Nairobi office (2 week stays). In Sudan I will be living and working in a rural area and may not have regular access to internet, so please accept my apology in advance for slow responses to much appreciated correspondence. 
Shelvis plans to return to Nairobi, Kenya in January. He is excited to continue working with the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa (FECCLAHA) and serving on staff at Loresho Presbyterian Church.
Please know that we will miss you when we are away, but that you will remain in our thoughts and prayers.
Posted on December 23rd, 2009 by Nancy
Filed under: Uncategorized