July 8, 2008

Dear Friends:

It seems only fitting that after three years of regular correspondence from us, you should have one final note from that slightly irregular family who decided to go serve in Pakistan. We last wrote this spring as we were about to leave Pakistan in early April. We spent two wonderful weeks in China highlighted by a six-day visit with Peter’s foster mother in Shenyang. It was heartwarming, affirming, and just plain fun to be with her and the 18 children she is currently caring for. Since landing in Richmond late on April 17, we have spoken in 12 churches and at one presbytery meeting plus several smaller gatherings of mission committees and interested folks; our shalwar kameez have had a good work out, and our Pakistani flag is getting a little frayed. We have choked up as we told stories or looked at the many pictures of the people we were privileged to meet in Pakistan. And now it comes to an end. On June 30, our term of service as PC(USA) missionaries ended and we became ... unemployed missionaries!

Actually, Robert has been fortunate to secure a short-term position for the summer as the temporary supply pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Charlottesville, Virginia. It is a long commute each day, but he is enjoying the chance to be back in the pulpit and to provide pastoral services to this congregation. We've made Richmond our home for the time being, and it has been helpful to all of us to have friends who remember us and help us to re-acclimate to life in the United States. Our home church, Second Presbyterian, has welcomed, fed and provided for us in ways too numerous to mention. We are grateful for caring folks who've given us a car, furniture, groceries, and bedding, as we seek to bring some routine and normalcy back to our lives.

Robert's temporary position ends on August 31, so we are both earnestly seeking opportunities that provide more long-term stability. Robert is seeking a pastoral position, preferably as the senior pastor of a mid-size church, and Marianne hopes to continue working in some connection with South Asia through consulting or training. The realities of a slowing job market are very obvious to us; we remain hopeful that God will give us the discernment to see how and where we can best be used to further God's kingdom.

As for the boys, Peter returned for the last six weeks of the school term to the same elementary school he attended before we left for Lahore. Because of differences in the schools, he's attending summer school to make up for math skills he missed in the transition. Marianne has homeschooled Nathan for the remainder of his 8th grade year, a unique bonding experience for mom and teenage son. There have been several tests of wills, and now that Nathan is bigger than his mother, his will seems a bit stronger! He has tutored at Peter's school and taken odd jobs around the neighborhood to fill out his days.

So, we bring the Pakistan chapter of our lives to closure, and it is with some mourning that we do that. There were three cars of crying Pakistanis following us to the airport, and the emails continue to come from colleagues and students telling us we're missed. The daily predictability of life in the United States seems dull at times when compared with the daily drama we often experienced in Pakistan. Yet, we welcome the predictability for a while (everyone stops at a red light!) and know the tensions created by all the drama wore on us after a while. We've adjusted to life without a housekeeper with only minor mishaps (though far more dust bunnies than Sam would have tolerated). More than anything, we are better people for having been in Pakistan, and we hope Forman is in some small way a better place for us having been there.

We owe many people thanks for their prayers and support, including all of you who've read our newsletters these past three years, wrote to offer encouragement, prayed for our safety and security, and retained an interest in what we were doing.  Bohut shukreya. Your support for us has sustained us in ways too numerous to mention, but here are a few things for which we are thankful: the short emails to thank us for sending a particular story; the email to inquire about our safety after a news report of some violent event in Pakistan; the notes with news you thought we might miss and felt we should know; the updates on your lives that allow us to feel as if we weren't completely out of touch; the holiday cards you paid extra postage to send. Thank you! We truly appreciate it.

Now it's probably back to the annual Christmas letter, which we admit will not be nearly as interesting as anything that happened in Pakistan. We hope you'll stay in touch and keep us on your mailing list.

And who knows—this chapter has ended but there is likely another chapter to be written—where, when, how, we don't know.  But we'll keep you posted.

With warm gratitude and affection, we remain your faithful Christian servants:

Robert Johnson, Marianne Vermeer, Nathan and Peter

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 85