We are home

(L-R): Joel, Susan, Frances, Erin, James and Paul Nitz

“We are home,” she told me.

I asked the wife of one of our expatriate African missionaries, “What do you look forward to about going home?” I asked because, as I sat in her living room, I wondered what she missed about life in the United States. But I had asked the wrong question.

“We are home,” she answered.

Celebrating Thanksgiving with our overseas “family”

This caring, Jesus-reflecting wife and mother is 8000 miles from parents, siblings, and U.S. friends.  At least a daylong airplane trip separates her from her childhood community and the house where she grew up. Wisconsin cheese and bratwurst are distant memories. So is the scent and sight of wet, fallen leaves scattered like a rainbow on a crisp October morning, the silence and purity of a fresh blanket of February snow, and the sky-painting explosion of July 4th fireworks.

Fellowship with fellow missionaries is important

The place she grew up and lived as a young adult is no longer home. The Lord of the Church has given her, her husband, and their sons another home. It has different smells, different seasons, different sights. The language and food and customs that are foreign to me are the hugs of home to her. And to her husband. And to her sons.

Passing on the family’s musical heritage

She is home because her Savior left his home for her. Grace-gratitude did not just compel her to move to Africa. It prompted her to adopt Africa, to embrace it with both arms and a whole heart. Like Ruth’s commitment to Naomi, Africa’s people are her people. She and her family are in Africa to share all the treasures they have received at the Good Friday cross and the Easter tomb. She is all in. She is home.

Like father, like daughter

Thank you, dear sister, for reminding me you are home.

And thank you, Father that, in Jesus, one day, this sister and I will be home – really home — with all the saints in the mansion you are readying for us.

James Aderman lives in Greenfield, WI

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news and receive updates. Go to this link to learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts  https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa