Ending Well: How to say goodbye to your life overseas and prepare for re-entry

by Ellen Rosenberger

Are you returning to your home country after living internationally? Are you wondering how you are going to survive the transition? Are you a family member or a friend of someone returning from overseas and want to know how to understand and love them through their re-entry? Perhaps you returned “home” a while ago and never truly processed the emotions involved in your move.

Ending Well takes a look at the multi-faceted process of moving from host country to home country. Whether you are a missionary, an embassy worker, in the military or a global worker of any kind, this book addresses the pain, the stress, the excitement, and the hope of thriving in an international move. Through personal stories and journal entries Ellen Rosenberger, author of Missionaries Are Real People , takes you into her family’s journey of moving from Managua, Nicaragua to Littleton, Colorado. She demonstrates how a healthy, thriving transition is possible.

Having lived as a missionary kid in Bolivia and a missionary in Nicaragua for the majority of her life, Ellen has been through decades of hellos and goodbyes. In Ending Well , Ellen invites you into a story of grieving, releasing, hoping, and trusting. Ellen writes honestly of her experiences in a way that resonates with anyone who has spent time overseas or has made a move of any kind.

Ending Well normalizes the variety of emotions experienced before and during re-entry. In its pages you will find practical steps to closing a chapter of life overseas and opening a new one back in your home country. Ending Well demonstrates that thriving in an international move is possible if you are willing to take the time, invest in the resources, and prepare yourself well.

Genres: Nonfiction

149 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 28, 2017

Reviews

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this easy read. The author shared her own story and lots of practical ways to end well in your place of service. Would definitely recommend if you are planning to return from overseas or even go through a major transition. A transition done well, starts with ending well.

[Bayta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing resource for anyone preparing to move back to their passport country! Ellen Rosenberger takes you into her and her family’s story of returning to the US, while also giving lots of really practical tips for doing transition well. Combining the two does not always work well but it very much does here! I particularly enjoyed all the very creative ideas for saying goodbye well, and then (re-)engaging with the new place! The book also includes very useful lists of resources and action points both for those transitioning and for those welcoming them back. Highly recommend it!

[Jodie Pine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some helpful tips on preparing well for re-entry to one's home country after serving overseas. Probably the most helpful idea to me was writing letters: to people you're saying goodbye to, to the country you're leaving, to the place you are entering, to yourself, to re-entry, to your spouse and children. Overall though, I found myself wondering if the author did anything wrong in the re-entry process. It seemed a bit too much of "we did everything right" in the storytelling, which is why I only gave it 3 stars.

[Courtney Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good book by E. Rosenberger

This second volume was worth taking the couple hours to read it. Good material with minimal overlap from her first book. Several very “quotable” sayings and some very useful lists and summaries. Good book.

[Jill Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful, practical advice

[Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book for missionaries to get some good insight to transitioning back to”home” wherever that may be