Well, we’ve been back in the States for almost 2 months now.1And it has been a CRAZY two months! For the sake of brevity I think I’m going to have to limit the scope of this particular post strictly to Callahan-specific ministry stuff. News pertaining to the current status of the Iski church will have to come in a later post.

For the most part, our family is re-aclimating to life in the Western world reasonably well. Our 9 and 8 year-old are predominately happy with the new life situation and are taking things in stride. Our 5 year-old, however, tends to bounce around between extreme emotional responses as he tries to navigate the new world he’s been thrust into:2Except for one 9-month Home Assignment, two years ago, Griffin has lived his entire life in Papua New Guinea.

“We get to have BACON with breakfast?! I LOVE New York!”

“I don’t WANT to wear shoes! Shoes are stupid! I HATE New York!”

“We can play outside and explore in the brook whenever we want? I LOVE this place!”

“Why is it so COLD?! This country is USELESS!”

“What do you mean we have to go to bed? The sun is still out! It’s still DAYTIME! Why do I have to go to bed during the DAY?! I HATE it here!”3Papua New Guinea is very close to the equator, so the sun goes down there at around 7:00 PM every day. Always.

In an effort to help shelter them from getting hit with too much, too soon, we have been trying to simplify our living as best as we can, while also trying to incorporate large amounts of family time into our routine. Our attempts at these ideals have had varying amounts of success.4Snagging a used trampoline online, for example, turned out to be a 100% amazing decision!

Along with our efforts to “simplify and normalize” our daily existence, we have also been navigating the details and emotions surrounding…

• Becoming land owners (Yay!): Seth’s parents recently deeded over a significant chunk of land to us to build our home on!
• Finishing the construction of our home: We are taking over the project of finishing up a house under construction on our newly aquired land, which will become the new Callahan family homestead! The house is roughly 75% completed, and we are hoping to be able to move in by the fall.
• Dealing with family drama: We have come home just in time to engage with significant and unique relational happenings within our extended family. These happenings have put considerable stress on our extended & nuclear family and have sapped us of most of our emotional energies.5Due to privacy issues, we’re leaving this as a mere bullet point, but it has been pretty heavy stuff for us to work through.
• Possibly transitioning into the pastor position at our sending church: We may be stepping into the interim pastoral role in our sending church a bit sooner than originally planned, as our small church is currently experiencing some unique difficulties. (The church will be voting on this ministry change in two weeks.)
• Leaving the mission: As we transition out of Ethnos360, and into our (potential) role as interim pastor of Cornerstone Bible Church, we will be working at connecting with supporters and sharing about the last several years of our ministry overseas. This, obviously, is a mixed bag of emotions. It is also a bit tricky to work out schedule-wise sometimes.

Several people have reached out to us recently wondering what our support situation is looking like throughout this whole transition. Here is a short summary of what things will be looking like over the next months:

1. We will remain members of Ethnos360 throughout the month of July. Any support given to our ministry throught this time will be processed the same as it has always been. Beginning in August, we will no longer be receiving funds through Ethnos360.
2. For those desirous of continuing to give towards our ongoing ministry transition after Aug.,6Please don’t think this a presumptious idea. A few people have asked, so we wanted to provide an answer publicly. gifts could be directed towards Cornerstone Bible Church, with a note indicating that the funds are intended for our ministry. Such gifts would be tax-deductible. [The church mailing address is PO Box 245 Fort Ann, NY 12827]

We understand that since arriving back in the US we have had minimal online presence, and have all but diappeared. We are very sorry about that. Please don’t take our poor communication personally. Not to make excuses, but it is no understatement to say that we have been swamped since we hit the ground. This has not been one of the tamer “seasons of life” that we have experienced, to say the least.7But we think we’re beginning to make some headway and find some stability…so, that’s nice.

As always, thank you SO MUCH for your continued prayers for our family. Please don’t be shy to reach out with any questions you might have by leaving a comment below. Or you can find us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/sethandrochelle.callahan.