Spam Alert

I wanted to email everybody to warn you that my Gmail account was hacked. If you receive an email from arlars@gmail.com with the subject “WIRE TRANSFER DETAILS,” delete it immediately. I have shut down that account and replaced it with aaron.larsen007@gmail.com.

 

Mpo na bino na Congo, esengeli ete soki bozui email kouta na arlars@gmail.com na sujet oyo: WIRE TRANSFER DETAILS, boeffacer yango immediatement. Vraiment, euti na ngai te kasi eyebi kobebisa ordinateur. Bongo bokeba na yango.

 

Sorry about that.

 

Thanks,

 

Aaron Larsen

October 2012 Newsletter...Finally!

The last time we sent out a newsletter was the middle of June so this one is long overdue! Life has been pretty busy lately. Actually, it's been busy since the middle of June. Since then we have left Congo, been to the Philippines and Taiwan, arrived back in the US, traversed the country from Pennsylvania to Colorado to Wisconsin and Illinois, moved into a new home in upstate New York, started graduate school and been to Minneapolis for debriefing and transitioning to long term with ReachGlobal. This past week Michelle has been in Liberia with CAMPS ReachGlobal as she begins to move into a working role within that new department in the mission. She gets back tonight.

One of the things we have not been able to do as much of in all the busyness has been support team building. Now that we are transitioning to long term with ReachGlobal, we need to raise additional support. This edition of our newsletter explains it in detail. Please consider partnering with us through prayer or financial support of our ministry. And if you have any further questions or would like to know more about what we are and will be doing, we'd be happy to answer your questions. This year, at least until June 2013, we will be somewhat restricted to the East Coast due to school. If you live within that area we are open to seeing how we could even meet with you at some point during these two semesters. If you live outside of that area, maybe we could figure something out down the road for the upcoming summer season.

Regardless, read our newsletter and find out what we're up to. A donation sheet is also provided in case you feel led to support us at this time.

October 2012 Newsletter
2012 Donation Information 

The Long Way Home: Part 3

Manila to New York City: July 19

Home, Sweet Home.  We are finally back in the US, currently at my parents' house in Allentown, PA.  We woke up at 3AM this Thursday, headed to the airport and later that morning boarded a plane bound for NYC via Tokyo, Japan.  After four hours to Japan, two hours in the airport there and twelve and a half hours to JFK, we were checking through immigration and putting our passport away (for at least a little while anyway).  Once again, Soleil did great on the plane and enjoyed having Lola and Grandpa to keep her company part of the way.  Now she has met all four grandparents, having met Bestefar (Norwegian for grandfather) for the first time and "re-meeting" Koko (Lingala for any grandparent but in this case referring to my Mom) at the airport yesterday.  We're still trying to shake the travel fatigue so I'm calling it a night and going to bed; just wanted to let you know that we've made it safely back and are once again stateside.  Thanks to all who prayed for our travels!

On Our Way Home...

It has been over two weeks now since we left the Congo and we still haven't made it home to the US yet.  Instead, we've made our way to Michelle's childhood home, the Philippines.  Michelle's parents, Ron and Alice Watters, are missionaries here and they live in Quezon City in Metropolitan Manila.  It has been an incredible vacation and we still haven't had time to rest.  I'm sure that will come at some point but so far we've been having too much fun!

A truly grueling vacation

We arrived in Manila late on Tuesday, July 3rd.  Tired as she was, Soleil took time to try out her new stroller, an early Christmas gift from Grandpa and Lola (Tagalog for grandmother).

On Wednesday we got haircuts and went "malling".  On Thursday we went for a drive around the neighborhood Michelle grew up in and went to a discipleship group in the evening with Michelle's parents.  On Friday, Ron and I went to Corregidor, a famous WWII island battleground at the mouth of Manila Bay while Michelle visited some of the ladies from Alice's Partners in Ministry group at IGSL.  We finished up the day at another discipleship group.   

Riding in a "tricycle" through Quezon City

Ruins at Corregidor

Gun Emplacement on the Island

On Saturday we drove up to Subic Bay.  The primary attraction for the day was Zoobic, a little animal park.

Petting a Goat

"What is that?"

Soleil trying to shake hooves with a deer

Feeding the canaries

On Sunday we went to church and then went malling again.  What else are you going to do to get out the heat?

On Monday we boarded a Philippine Airlines flight for the island of Cebu.  Our destination was a beach resort on the north side of the island called Alegre.  We spent four days here playing in the sea, kayaking, snorkeling, eating and (in my case) getting a bad sunburn.  Well worth it.

When we got back from Cebu we had a day to get our clothes washed and head back to the airport, this time en route to Taiwan.  Michelle's parents were missionaries in Taipei before moving to Manila when Michelle was in first grade.  So we spent three days in Taipei sightseeing and touring their old neighborhood.

We got back to Manila at 3:30 this morning and back to the house by 5:30.  Despite the lack of sleep, the late nights, the early mornings and the constant traveling, Soleil has been a real trooper.  She has seemed to really enjoy this vacation and has been making friends everywhere she goes, whether it's

with a flight attendant on Philippine Airlines,

on the beach at the resort,

in the Taipei airport,

at the restaurant in Cebu

with a fellow hippo-lover at the zoo

or with a young pianist in Manila.

Today we visited the International Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL) where Ron serves as the Academic Dean and heads the Theology Department.  We have one more day left here in the Philippines and all that we have to do is to pack.  We leave Manila the morning of July 19th, touching down at JFK twenty hours later.

Departure Service

Our church, Paroisse CECU Libenge-Moke, had a farewell service for all of us one evening during our final week in Gemena.  We hosted it at ELIKYA, between our house and the classroom building. 

This short clip was filmed during the final 'postlude' as people were drinking tea and the service was wrapping up.

Last Days

We are now exactly one week removed from our departure from Congo.  It is still hard to believe that we won't be going back.  We have left before- several times across the river to Bangui, once to Gamboula for Soleil's birth and once to Kenya for the RG Africa Conference- but this time there is no expectation of return, no timeframe, no date.  It is strange.  

Our last days in Congo were a flurry of activity.  We intentionally left our final week in country free of any training responsibilities so that we could focus on packing up and saying good-bye.  Yet, somehow, there seemed to be plenty of last-minute work-related things to wrap up even during the final week.  Many people invited us over for a final meal together so we ate very well, no doubt about that.  Our church in Libenge-Moke also had a special church service at the Elikya Center to bless our departure.  We had our own church service as well with the team we've spent the last few years training.  They have become so much more than colleagues.  They are true friends and we will miss them dearly.  I am sure that they have taught us more than we ever did over the course of our time there.  We worshipped together and prayed for each other.  The tears were never far from the surface. 

The hardest part was saying good-bye.  For me, the opportunity to come back to Congo, where I'd spent eight years growing up as a kid was something completely unexpected when it was presented to us back in 2008.  So to come back and be able to reconnect with the land and the people was something I will be forever grateful for.  And to be able to return with my wife, to live there together and to raise our daughter there for the first eighteen months of her life are blessings that will forever impact who we are as a family.  And now that it's over there's this perpetual feeling that two years isn't long enough.  It's long enough to adjust to the culture, learn the language well, make good friendships and even complete the work that we went to do.  So it is long enough.  But it feels as though, after all that, it's just the beginning; like the full potential of the ministry and the work and the friendships were just coming to full bloom.

The last two years have been such a blessing and such a rare gift of an experience.  It was never easy, to be sure and filled with it's share of dissapointment, discouragement and sorrow.  But God has taught us so much through it.  And the pain in leaving is a gift too.  It means simply that the Lord forged something of great value between us and those we are leaving behind.  In that sense I am happy for this sadness that is tempered by the accompanying hope of return.  If not for two years, then two months will do; if not for two months, then two weeks.  God knows and we are confident that these things too will work together for good.      

Special June Newsletter

Here you will find our June newsletter.  It has some important information concerning our return to the US and our future plans.  

One of the reasons we are sending out this special newsletter is to invite you to join our support team.  We have made the decision to continue on with ReachGlobal and are once again raising support. The letter and additional attached document will have more information on what we'll be doing this next year, our future plans within the mission and how you can play a part.  You’ll also find our summer schedule in the newsletter so if you want us to stop in for a visit when we’re in your area just let us know and we’d be happy to.