The Campbell-Whites
Declare His glory among the nations…
There and Back Again: A Missionary’s Tale
What began in March of this year has finally come to a close. Our first Home Assignment is over. What, you ask, is “home assignment”? It is the time every two years that we are sent back to our home country to tell the Church what God is doing here, where we are living and working. Usually, you go home for 3 months and then come back. But sometimes there are variations… and we had to stray from the norm a bit this year.
We began in Oklahoma, drove to Texas, then to Kansas and back to Texas. From Texas I (Jeni) flew to Idaho for a day, while Kevin and Caleb drove back to Oklahoma, we then all flew to Utah from our respective locations, after which we all flew to Boise, drove to Eastern Oregon, and then back to Nampa, Idaho.
In Nampa we got to witness our daughter’s college graduation from Northwest Nazarene University. She is now an RN and works at the VA hospital in Boise. Yay!!! Immediately following graduation, we flew back to Thailand with our first Work & Witness team. From that point on, we were with teams in Thailand and Cambodia until flying back in August to drop Caleb off at NNU for his freshman orientation. He’s loving it, by the way, and doing great!
After bidding a teary-eyed farewell to our baby, we started the second half of home assignment which included 31 churches, 6 states (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, and West Virginia—technically we drove through Ohio, too, but we didn’t stop, so I’m not counting it) 1 retirement center, 3 universities for meetings with 5 potential Work & Witness teams, several meetings with churches and individuals regarding upcoming teams, more meals out than I care to count, and I don’t know how many miles.
It was wonderful.
Each time we thought we were completely spent, God sent brothers and sisters in Christ to refresh us. We were welcomed like family everywhere we went. We drove thousands of miles without incident by the grace and protection of God. We met strangers in Christ who are now our friends, and connected with long time friends in a way that only the Holy Spirit can orchestrate.
All I can say is that God is good and the Church, His body, is beautiful.
We are now back in Bangkok and will be headed north in two days for 2 weeks of Regional conferences. Are we tired? Yes. I think God is not allowing us to get over jet lag too quickly just so that we will slow down a little and get some rest. I still can’t keep my eyes open past 9 pm, but each night we sleep one hour longer.
If you are reading this and we had the privilege of visiting you and/or your church, please know that we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were blessed by you and your fellowship. If you were one of the saints who opened their home to us, again, thank you so much! God used you to refresh us. If we didn’t make it your way this time, let’s make that happen next time. We missed you.
At the end of the month, we will be back in Bangkok and it looks like we will actually get to live in our place for about 2 months! It’s been a long road, but it certainly is a grand adventure!
The Campbell-Whites 
You both have always had a positive and me and meaningful response to any question asked. I am glad you had the chance to come to our church and reconnect with people. I can’t wait to make it back the Thailand in 2020. God bless you all.
LikeLike