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Homeward Bound
By on December 1, 2008
It’s officially December, and that just blows my mind. It’s also officially the end of the internship. And that blows my mind, too.
Our week of debriefing was incredible. We had a lot of fun together, but more than that, we watched as the interns unpacked all that God did in their hearts this year. They’ve each grown so much and are leaving today as prepared as they can be for their transition back to life in America. We are proud of each of them and can’t wait to see all that God continues to do in and through them in the coming years.
Goodbyes today weren’t as emotional and difficult as in times past. Seven of our ten interns will be returning in 2009 to join our staff team. We are thrilled to have them returning and will be praying for their fundraising over the next several months. (Will you join us in that?) The three that were “real goodbyes” were the hardest, and they will be deeply missed.
We were blessed to journey together with our interns over this past year. We love you guys, and we miss you already!
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8 Responses - Add yours below
danielle says:
wow! i didn’t realize so many of them are coming back! what will they be doing? that is really exciting.
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Allen Taylor says:
Nice writing. You are on my RSS reader now so I can read more from you down the road.
Allen Taylor
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Lin says:
You guys must be really good at building relationships. Kaylen is almost as excited about coming back in a couple of months as she is about coming home for a couple of months.
The journey over the last year has been wonderful for her and it has been the great adventure we hoped for and talked about last year before she joined Thrive Africa.
I am glad to steal her away from you for a few months…:-)
Dad
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Alece says:
danielle — some of the 7 were last-minute surprises. interns who wanted to talk to us about possibly coming back, and next thing you know, they are! one only spoke with us on thanksgiving day to let us know she’d definitely like to. it’s incredible. 2 are coming back for only a year, just to help me establish a communications department because this year we outgrew ourselves in that regard. those interns did so much and with no one to fill their shoes, we asked them to give one more year to help get systems in place to deal with those things (correspondence etc.) in the future. the other 5 made 3 year commitments; some starting in march/april and some only starting in august. but we are really looking forward to having so many of them back next year!
allen — thanks a lot. and welcome to thrive!
lin — thanks for saying what you did. it meant a lot. saying goodbye to “kaykay” (ha!) yesterday was yuck, but i’m so glad to know i’ll see her again v-e-r-y soon!
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Beverly Peirce says:
Thanks so much to all the staff and interns for all your hard work and kindness the past ten months. My son, Matt Peirce made it home safely this morning and we just want you to know how thankful we are for the great experiences he had this past year! Had great fun this afternoon looking at many of his great photos of Africa. Although he hasn’t signed up to come back, Thrive Africa will definitely always be in our thoughts and prayers – thanks!
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Alece says:
we loved having him here! thanks for supporting him to serve alongside us this past year…
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Matt M. says:
This last year was amazing and I am so glad that I got to be apart of it. Going back to life in the states is big change and I am really not liking it. I am happy to see family and friends but I want more than anything to be back out there. Thanks Niel and Alece for everything and I look forward to see you all again in March.
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Alece says:
we can’t wait till you’re back, too. at the same time, though, embrace every moment you have back home. the opportunities are endless!
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