Missionaries Dan and Ginny Bryant share their thoughts on their family’s return to Guinea.

The journey took more than 30 hours. There were potential complications in the practical realities of the Bryant family’s return to ministry, but they arrived safely– back in the remote little village they call home.

Ginny Bryant says that people kept asking the family, “Are you excited to go back?” In fact, they heard the question many times in the weeks prior to their travel.

“It’s hard to answer that,” she shares, “mainly because going back means the loss of many things.”

“We are saying good-bye for three years to parents, grandparents, cousins and friends. We are going to miss out on so much in their lives and they in ours.”

Watching her children say good-bye to their loved ones, Ginny felt their loss deeply.

“As we again headed to a remote village to live, we were also saying good-bye to reliable internet, phones, schools, sports teams, ballet, play dates … all things that had become a regular part of our kids’ lives.”

“I say this to you to try to explain that we are torn in how we feel in going back. Yes—we want to see our friends there! Yes—we are excited to see what God is going to do in people’s lives. Yes—we believe that this is where God wants us to be. But also, yes—it feels difficult and often very lonely,” Ginny explains candidly.

She continues, “I think sometimes people think that if something is hard for you or hard for your kids, then why do it?”

No one is forcing the Bryant family or making them feel bad if they don’t return. Instead, Ginny says, it’s about making a “conscious choice.” It’s about believing that serving God in Guinea is the best way they can honour God at this point in their lives.