Post Furlough update -2026

After 3 months packed full of time spent with family and friends in the U.S., we are back in Zambia! We arrived back the morning of Friday the 6th. It took us a while, but we’re finally caught up on sleep and back into a normal routine. We missed the first couple of weeks of classes at ACU, so Isaac jumped right into teaching and all his duties as a professor after only two days to rest.  

A brief recap of the last few months:

We arrived in Seattle on November 6th and spent a couple days there with Isaac’s brother and his family. It was so good to be back in the PNW and breathe the air (which smelled sweet compared to the air in Lusaka!). 

On the 9th we drove down to Ridgefield, WA and spent the rest of November there with the Madsen crew. Unfortunately we all got Strep and were pretty sick for most of our time there, but we still managed to get lots of time with family! One of the highlights of November was celebrating all the Madsen November birthdays with the whole family (both Korinne and Esther have Nov birthdays, as well as Isaac’s sister,  Eliyah, and our nephew, Allistair). We had a Hobbit themed party and everyone contributed their talents to make it a party worthy of Bilbo’s approval!

Another highlight was getting to spend a couple of days out on the coast in Tillamook with our good friends the Frankes. 

The first week of December we made a quick trip to Moscow for Dr appointments. While there, Bea got to experience her first ever snow!

On the 5th we flew from Seattle to NC to visit Isaac’s Aunt and Grandma. It was a 5+ hour flight, but the kids were all surprised how short it was (which compared to the 30+ hour trip back from Zambia, did feel pretty short!). While in NC we got to see some of our Zambia friends, the Kilians, the Morrisons, and the Tews, which was a real treat! The kids loved getting to go to the beach and aquarium with Aunt Carla, and spending lots of time with Gigi. 

On the 11th we flew to Texas to see the Bush side of the family. Our time in Texas was very full and lots of fun! We celebrated Bea’s 2nd birthday with Grammie and Grandpa B. I got to take the kids and Isaac to Camp Thurman, the summer camp I worked at during high school and college. Isaac and I celebrated our 9th anniversary at the Fort Worth stock yards. But best of all, was spending lots and lots of time with family! Christmas was especially special! It was the first time in 10+ years that all 7 Bush siblings were all together for Christmas! And to add to the fun, there were 5 new babies added to the family in 2025! 

After very tearful goodbyes, we headed back up to the PNW on the 29th. We rang in the New Year surrounded by family and friends at one of the Eells family’s famous NYE parties! It was so fun getting to celebrate with so many dear friends and family! 

January 2nd-5th we stayed at a cabin up on the Olympic Peninsula with all of the Madsen side of the family. It was a really wonderful time, and it was nice to have a few days of rest between all the traveling and busyness. 

On the 5th we left for Moscow- our home! Almost every day that we were in town we went to different friend’s houses for meals. It was absolutely wonderful to catch up on life with so many dear friends! We also had a missions night/open house where we shared about life in Zambia, as well as a missions festival where we got to share about our mission alongside several veteran missionary families from our church community. It was so encouraging to hear about our friends’ work in different parts of the world! 

We arrived in Zambia on Friday the 6th and found everything at home was in good order. We were back at our church (Christ Church Lusaka) on Sunday and back to work and homeschooling on Monday. The first week we were a bit under the weather and jet legged, but as we wrap up our third full week back in the country, we are once again getting back to normal.

Isaac is teaching first year philosophy and introduction to soil science. He especially enjoys teaching soil science. Last Thursday he took the students on a field trip to the ACU farm, where we examined the effect of landscape position on soil development. There were a few thunder showers and the soil pits got pretty muddy, but the student really enjoyed being able to connect the concepts in class with observations in the field. 

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. 

In Christ, 

The Madsens