Subscriber First Name, we can hardly believe it’s mid-July.

Between daily life and our responsibilities at the hospital, the weeks and months have flown by since our last update. We have so many exciting things to share with you!

First up: gender reveal!

In May, we took a trip to Nairobi for an anatomy scan for our little one on the way. We were thrilled to find out we are expecting a little boy in September! We are grateful that he is growing well and is healthy. The trip was a wonderful opportunity to refresh as a family and enjoy some conveniences we don’t have in Kapsowar, like ordering takeout and taking our kids to the many indoor parks in Nairobi, which they thoroughly enjoyed. We even got to go on a morning safari in Nairobi's national park, which sits right on the edge of the city.

We’re coming back to the States for a bit!

We’re excited to share that we plan to return to Monterey for the birth of our little guy! In fact, we'll be coming home very soon—on August 6, to be precise. This allows us to travel as late as possible before the 36 week flight travel cutoff in pregnancy. We’re really looking forward to being home for a while and spending time with family during this sweet time with the new baby. Although we’re still figuring out the details, the plan is to stay in California until November and then head to Florida for the holidays before we return to Kenya.

We celebrated a whole year in Kenya!

Amidst all the busyness and growing humans, we realized we've hit a WHOLE YEAR of living here in Kapsowar! As we look back on the past year, we take joy in all that we’ve learned and accomplished—it definitely feels like a lot.

We celebrate all that we've learned practically about living and working here - like practicing medicine and figuring out how to renovate a house - but we also celebrate how our hearts and characters have grown over the past year. Kenyan culture has taught us many things, and I think one of the most profound ways we’ve grown is in patience. I (Regan) find myself much more willing to wait for things, something that didn’t come easily in the instant gratification culture of life in America. I'm more okay with going slow in general, making time for the people around me. I'm more willing to be interrupted by a need, rather than feeling annoyed that I haven’t accomplished my daily tasks. Kenyans model these wonderful attributes for us and have helped shape them in our hearts this past year, though we still have a long way to go.

On the other hand, I must admit—we are tired. (Probably goes hand in hand with being 31 weeks pregnant too, ha!) Some of our exhaustion comes from the regular challenges of living in a rural place, like power outages right at dinner time (why does it always seem to happen when we plan to have guests over?) or doing the same afternoon activities with the kids again…and again…and again (who wants to go on the tire swing?!). But on a deeper level, our hearts are weary. Weary from still being stared at every time we walk into town, weary from the death of yet another child, weary from the endless needs we encounter every day and trying to understand our role in meeting or not meeting them.

This past week, we took our first trip to the Kenyan coast for a retreat for all Serge workers in East Africa. We were privileged to have Doug McKelvey speak during the week, the author of the liturgy series “Every Moment Holy”. [If you don’t know it, add it to your cart on Amazon pronto]. The theme of the week was “Hope Amidst Grief,” which couldn’t be more fitting for our work here. We discussed how our weaknesses and disappointments are, in fact, the places in our lives where God is most at work. That who we are becoming is more important than what we are accomplishing. It was a much-needed time of refreshment, and we really enjoyed meeting so many Serge workers also on this journey of cross-cultural service with us.

Plus - on a personal level, my heart finds so much contentment in a warm weather with warm ocean - it’s the South Floridian in me. :) So to swim, play with the kids at the beach, and snorkel on the reef brought so much joy to our week! Plus, I didn’t cook or do dishes for a whole week!

Jack at the hospital

Jack continues his daily work at the hospital, experiencing weekly, if not daily, highs and lows. Beginning in mid-March, all government doctors in Kenya went on strike, which lasted for just under two months. This led many people to seek care at mission hospitals like ours. However, due to the strike, they often came in later and sicker than usual. Jack wrote a powerful blog about what that looked like you can read here.

I'm working on a film that shares more about his role here, which I hope to have ready soon. And as I've spent time at the hospital filming, I still find myself in awe when I follow him on rounds. It’s beautiful to see him interacting with the staff and patients—in Swahili!—and managing such complex diseases with such limited resources. Whenever I meet someone new at the hospital, I lead with being Jack’s wife, and they always smile and tell us how much they appreciate him.

Patient Assistance Fund

I’ve been working with the social work team at the hospital, a group I just genuinely enjoy spending time with. They identify the patients in greatest financial need who are unlikely to be able to pay their bills. One of my long-term projects is growing a fund that will be a sustainable source to cover bills for these patients. It’s incredible to work with them on the front lines, hearing patients' stories and being able to meet their needs through donor support. I wrote a more detailed blog on the program below, and in the future, I plan to share some specific stories of the patients we have helped and then visited at home after they are discharged from the hospital.

New video!

If you remember, awhile back we had some patients from South Sudan who came to the hospital and stayed for months for facial reconstruction surgery. If I had more time, I’d make a whole documentary about their incredible stories. For now, here’s a short video on the program I put together.

I think that’s quite enough for one update! Please keep us in your prayers as we wrap up our last few weeks here in Kapsowar for several months. We’re excited to be coming back to the States for a bit, but it’s also hard as we’ve started gaining momentum on many of these projects and it’s difficult to leave them behind.

To those who support us - these updates never feel quite adequate in sharing the many stories of impact your generosity and prayer make on a daily basis, but please know you are deeply appreciated and we are incredibly grateful for your support that helps provide for us to be here.

Regan, Jack, Micah, Sage, and baby BOY coming in September!

Prayer Needs

• Would you pray for all of us as we travel home and prepare for the arrival of our baby boy and for a healthy and smooth delivery? The overwhelming feeling is one of anticipation and joy! But we’ll need lots of grace as we make big transitions to the States and welcome a new family member! Also, think of me (Regan) as I enter the “too-big-and-ready-to-be-done” phase of pregnancy 🤰🏻

• Pray for the kids as they transition back to life in the States for a short while. We’ve enrolled Micah and Sage in our local church’s preschool which we are really excited about, but we know it will be a big adjustment for them as well.

• Pray that God will provide a vehicle for us to use while we’re back in the States. We try not to think of ourselves as homeless thanks to both sides of parents who plan to take us in! But it would be so helpful to have a vehicle to to get around with while we are back.

  P.S. For anyone new to our newsletter, I’ve added links to our past email updates on our website here if you’d like to check them out!