What Happens to Everything While We’re Gone

One thing we've learned while preparing for this mission is that leaving for 18 months involves much more than packing suitcases.

As we've worked through the practical side of getting ready, we've realized just how many parts of everyday life need a plan before we leave.

One of the biggest decisions was what to do with our home. We were fortunate to find renters through friends at church, which has given us a lot of peace of mind. Because we'll be leaving the house furnished, most of our preparation has focused on packing away personal belongings and making space for someone else to comfortably live here while we're gone.

Over the years we've tried to stay on top of home maintenance, taking care of both major and minor repairs as they came along. We've replaced the water softener, installed a new hot water heater, updated roofing paper, replaced the air conditioner, and installed a new garage door opener. While there's never a guarantee that nothing will go wrong, we've done our best to leave the house in good condition and hope it serves our renters well during the time we're away.

We're also planning to sell our vehicles before we leave. That process has been slowed down by one unexpected challenge: locating the titles. We know they're somewhere, but at the moment they seem to have disappeared into one of those "safe places" that no one can remember later.

A surprising amount of preparation involves things that most people never think about. We're reviewing subscriptions that need to be canceled, confirming our banking and financial accounts can be managed online, setting up autopay for bills, and moving most statements to paperless. Utilities will largely remain in our name, although the gas and electric service will be transferred to the renters once they move in.

We've also been working through several administrative tasks that are important before living overseas. We're renewing driver's licenses that would expire while we're gone, obtaining international driving licenses, reviewing insurance coverage, scheduling dental appointments, and meeting with our financial advisor to make sure everything is prepared for the next 18 months.

One change we're making is switching to the Church's health insurance plan. Our current insurance provides limited overseas coverage, while the Church plan offers better protection for the time we'll be serving abroad.

Along with all the practical preparations, there are still important experiences ahead. We have family members we want to spend time with before we leave, mission training courses to complete, and eventually we'll be invited to give our farewell talks to our congregation at church before beginning this next chapter.

Sometimes it feels like every time we cross one item off the list, two more appear. But little by little, things are coming together.

The mission itself still lies ahead, but many of the preparations that make it possible are happening right now.

What Do You Pack for 18-Months?

 One question we’ve been asked several times lately is, “What do you pack for 18 months?”

Since this will be our third foreign humanitarian mission, we have a better idea of what to expect than we did the first time. Even so, every assignment comes with its own challenges and considerations.

Packing for an extended mission assignment feels very different than packing for a personal trip. Normally you pack mostly for comfort or convenience. This feels more like deciding what parts of normal daily life are important enough to bring with you for an extended period of time.

Since we’ll be living in Moldova, we’re trying to think through different seasons, daily routines, church clothes, winter weather, nutritional supplements, electronics, and the everyday things we’ll want from home.

At the same time, we also know we can’t bring everything.

Most airlines limit us to two 50-pound suitcases each, along with a carry-on, so space is more limited than people might think.

Every suitcase has limits, which means every item becomes a decision. Do we really need it? Will we actually use it? It’s surprising how quickly space disappears when you’re packing for an extended stay.

Some things are obvious. Comfortable shoes, basic clothing, electronics, and hair products make the list quickly.

Other things take a little more thought. Extra kitchen items? Too many coats? “Just in case” items? It’s surprising how quickly small things add up when you’re trying to fit your life into a few suitcases.

One thing that helps is knowing that many everyday items can easily be purchased there. From previous experiences, we know there are plenty of things we’ll buy there rather than pack, and sometimes they’re even easier to find or less expensive than they are at home.

At the same time, simplifying has actually felt good. The more we sort through things, the more we realize how little we truly need to live comfortably. 

A lot of what we’re leaving behind will be packed away in storage until we come home. Some things we’ve donated, some things we’ve given to family, and some things we’ve realized we probably didn’t need to keep in the first place.

The more we pack and sort through things, the more it feels like we’re preparing for a real life transition – not just a vacation.

We still have more sorting and packing ahead of us, and I’m sure we’ll rethink at least a few things before we finally leave.

But little by little, it’s coming together.

Preparing Our Home to Leave

Even though we’re still a few weeks away from leaving the country to begin our mission in Moldova, this mission is starting to feel much more real.

A lot of our time lately has been spent doing the practical side of preparing — sorting through the house, deciding what to keep out, what to box up for storage, and what simply needs to go. It’s amazing how much stuff accumulates over time until you start looking at everything through the lens of, “Will we really need this before we leave for the next 18 months?

Some days it feels productive. Other days it feels like we’re constantly making decisions about what still matters enough to keep out and what can be packed away until we return.

We’ve also started looking at everyday things differently. Even grocery shopping feels different now. Standing there trying to decide whether to buy a bag of frozen fruit when we’re already working on clearing out the pantry and freezer somehow becomes a real decision. Little things like that happen constantly right now.

We’re slowly working through closets, drawers, paperwork, pantry shelves, freezer items, and all the corners of the house that are easy to ignore during normal life. We’re also trying to simplify things as much as possible before we leave — setting up automatic payments for utilities, switching accounts to paperless statements, organizing important documents, and trying to make sure everything can run smoothly while we’re gone.

In many ways, it actually feels good to simplify life a little and clear out things that aren’t really important anymore.

At the same time, we’re trying to make sure the house is in good working order for potential renters while we’re away. That means paying attention to all the routine maintence tasks you tend to put off when you live in a house yourself — repairs, maintenance, changing water filters, checking sprinklers, servicing the air conditioner, and making sure everything is functioning the way it should.

Most of our boxes and personal belongings will eventually be stored away in the attic until we return home. It’s a strange feeling preparing to hand your home over to someone else for a while, even temporarily, but it also feels like part of fully committing to this next chapter.

Right now, the mission still feels both close and far away at the same time. We haven’t left yet, but with every list we finish and every room we sort through, it feels a little closer.

For now, we’re simply taking the preparation one step at a time.

What We’ll Actually Be Doing

Last post, I mentioned that one of the questions we had — and that others have asked — is what this kind of mission actually looks like day to day.

Because we’ve served two previous humanitarian missions, we had a general understanding of the work. What we didn’t fully understand at first was how this assignment would be different – especially that much of the work connected to Ukraine would happen remotely, since we won’t be able to travel there due to visa restrictions and our status as foreign missionaries. 

The simplest way to explain our role is that we’ll be supporting humanitarian projects that are already in motion, while also helping move new projects forward as they come through our humanitarian manager. We won’t be the ones seeking out or initiating many projects on our own, but we will help coordinate them, support them as they develop, and see them through to completion.

A big part of our role is helping organize and process requests so resources — like medical supplies, food, school items, and other basic needs — can move from where they are available to where they are needed.

We’ll be working with local organizations that already serve their communities. They know the people they’re helping and understand what is actually needed, and we help support that process from our side.

We’ll also be working closely with a humanitarian manager based in Ukraine. Even though we’ll be living in Moldova, some of the work we support will connect directly to needs there, mostly through communication, documentation, and coordination.

When we first arrive, we’ll spend about a week with the couple currently serving there. They’ll walk us through the projects they’ve been working on and help us understand how everything functions day to day. After that, we’ll take over those responsibilities and continue the work they’ve already been doing.

Most of what we do will be steady, behind-the-scenes work that help these efforts continue.

That’s our understanding of it right now.

I have a feeling that once we’re actually there, we’ll see it much more clearly — and probably explain it differently.

Why We're Going Back

Over the past little while, we started feeling something we didn’t expect — we felt like we should go serve again.

This will be our third foreign mission, and honestly, we thought that part of our life might be behind us. But the feeling kept coming back, and the more we paid attention to it, the more it felt like something we weren’t supposed to ignore.

The need right now feels very real and immediate, and that played a big role in our decision to apply again.

From our past missions, we’ve learned that this kind of service stretches you in ways that are not always easy — but it also changes you in the best ways. We’ve seen how even simple efforts can make a real difference for someone, whether that’s easing a burden, helping meet a need, or just letting someone know they’re not forgotten.

Those experiences stayed with us. And over time, it became clear to us that we weren’t finished yet.

We’ve now been assigned to serve for 18 months in the Ukraine/Moldova Mission in a humanitarian role. We feel grateful for the opportunity, but also very aware that this isn’t something we do on our own.

Each mission we’ve served has taught us something different — how to listen better, how to be more patient, and how to trust the Lord more fully. Looking back, we can see how those experiences have prepared us for this next step, even if we didn’t realize it at the time.

There’s a thought that has come to mind often:

“Whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies.”

We don’t feel like we have everything figured out, but we do feel willing — and that feels like the right place to start.

As we get ready to go, we 've also realized that a lot of people have the same question we did at first:

What does this kind of mission actually look like day to day?

That's something we're still learning ourselves - but I'll try to explain what we understand so far next time.