Learning and Leaving - by Kevin

Our lives and brains are filled to overflowing and we are so thankful.  The Couples and Families Counseling School has been teaching us so many useful tools to equip us to help others.  We are now in week 9 of the 12 week course and here are some of the tools we have been taught about so far: Strategic Family Therapy, Emotional Focused Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, Crisis and Trauma Counseling (for families and children), Genograms, Mapping and Externalizing the Problem, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Play Therapy, and Critical Incident Stress Debriefing.  We have both finished our 3 book reports and are working on our (12-15 page) research papers.  All this while trying to care for our 3 children and prepare for moving house again two weeks after school finishes.  

It has been pretty intense at times and a few weeks ago I (Kevin) noticed my anxiety level was starting to rise into the red.  My body gave me a few warnings so I approached our school leader and took a few days off to decompress. I have been struggling with anxiety on and off for the last 5 years.  Our school supervisors walked me through one of the tools we had learned called "Mapping and Externalizing the Problem".  This helped me to see that the problem was not part of who I am, but something I had control over.  Through this paradigm shift and working together with the Holy Spirit, God provided me with some healing and my anxiety went from an 8/10 down to a 3/10! I am very thankful for this as the next 6 months will involve a lot of stress that is inherent in relocating, changing jobs and cultures, and traveling over 20,000 miles across three continents.  

We hope to cross paths with lots of you folks, so here is our itinerary:  
1.  We pack the house and magically reduce it to 5 suitcases.  
(We bought a new suitcase and I noticed that Rachel was showing clear signs of Post Traumatic Stress: I found her in the fetal position clutching a roll of packing tape mumbling, "boxes, I need more boxes".  So I used my new counseling tools and gave her a straw and gently told her to "suck it up"...)

For real, here is our itinerary for the next few months:
April 29th - May 18th:  UK
May 19th - 23rd:  Yuma, Arizona, USA (to visit Rich Yangas, aka Papa Rich, recovering from a stroke)
May 23rd - July 13th, East Texas, USA (Mercy Ships base)
also, May 25-30 Kevin and Daniel will be in Ellensburg
July 15th - 28th near Durban, South Africa (working with the local community)
around July 28th, board the Africa Mercy in Durban (Shipyard)
then sail to Benin, West Africa.

We have been working with the kids in trying to prepare for their transition to ship life. We asked them to write letters to our supporters to tell their side of the story.

From Daniel:
Moving to the Africa Mercy is certainly going to be hard for the fact that I will be leaving friends again.  I also have a really good teacher this year and I will miss South Africa's delicious biltong and other meat products.  But it's going to be nice to visit Grandma and Papa in England, my Grandpa in the US, and of course our friends and supporters in home sweet Ellensburg!  I'm also looking forward to joining the Mercy Ships Academy which I have heard good things about.  And I am excited because I love to fly and travel.  Finally, a big thanks to everyone who supports us.

From Zaden:
First of all, I'd like to thank our supporters for supporting us.  Some of the things I have enjoyed about Worcester are: a good school, good friends, a beautiful view of the mountains, and South Africa's delicious biltong!  One of the challenging things I will have to overcome is leaving my good friends behind at school.  One of the good things about going on the ship will be seeing the ocean every day!

And here is a picture of Ashani with a picture that she drew of the ship: 

She said the birds in front of the ship are "Eagles".  I think she meant seagulls :-)

I also was able to celebrate my 12th/48th leap year birthday this year.

 Can you tell which one is 12 and which is 48?

Thanks again for your prayers and loving support,

The Yangi