Journey of Joy

It’s that time again!!!

Tomorrow is the big day! Ash and I are headed back to Sierra Leone for another round of heat, health care and …. Heat. It’s hard to imagine being hot right now since it’s been so cold all over the country. We have spent the last week in Georgia and South Carolina. December 29th we celebrated the marriage of Tom and Kara Hill (that is what brought us to Georgia)! We were humbled to get to take part in their wedding by standing with those two in support of their new life as one. It was also a super good time- those two sure know how to throw a mean dance party. After the wedding we took off to Charleston, South Carolina to experience the south a bit. We had a chance to see lots of historical sites, visit a plantation, and ring in the New Year surrounded by strangers in downtown Charleston. We did manage to meet a couple of guys from “the other Portland” in Maine, and one of them was named Tyler… no joke. Despite all the fun we’ve been having we cannot wait to get back to Sierra Leone and be greeted by all the smiling faces of our friends and the children of COTN in Banta.

We both want to say a very sincere and humble thank you to everyone who has helped make this second journey possible. The list of names extends into the hundreds. We want to thank our parents and families for letting us go and being OK with us being so far away, Ashley’s parents for watching Ava- our beloved dog, amazing friends that have been pivotal, our home church Door of Hope and their Pastoral staff, and Parkway Christian Center in my home town of Grants Pass for being so supportive and encouraging.

A seriously humbled thank you.

With lots and lots of love!

Team Van Brunt

Please feel free to stay connected with us while we're gone-either on facebook or by email:

vanbrunt.tyler@gmail.com

vanbrunt.ashley@gmail.com