Personal update: Our next life chapter is decided, and my wife Donna and I find ourselves quite surprised.
Last year we decided we would return to the U.S. in December 2019, after serving five fulfilling years as Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Representatives for Northeast Asia. But we had no idea “what next.”
In an unexpected turn of events, I have accepted an invitation from MCC to serve as the next Director of the MCC United Nations Office, based in New York City. This is a new kind of call for me, advocating as a Christian agency for international policies and politics that reflect peace and reconciliation.
As for Donna, she is inspired to get back into nursing serving patients at the margins, and will seek a job in that field in New York. We plan to move to the U.S. in July, I begin the UN position September 1, and we will move to New York. One gift: My’ father will not be far away in Vermont, and our children all in the East Coast area.
It will be hard to depart Korea and our MCC team five months earlier than expected. And New York City is a mighty leap of faith for us. Yet we sense God’s gentle, firm nudge to make this next jump from the known to the unknown. And that resonates with how God has worked in my and Donna’s lives, from our unexpected moves to Mississippi in our early 20’s, to Durham in 2000, to Korea in 2014.
For a new chapter of growth, by faith, we are claiming Jay-Z’s words in “Empire State of Mind”:
“Now you’re in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let’s hear it for New York….”
Chris Rice 
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