Reflecting on 2025
It’s a new year, and we’re going to try offering you more of Koinonia through the blog. I learned a lot in 2025. So much, honestly, I’m still reflecting and probably will be for the rest of my life. But I’m here, and I’ve decided to open more of our life to you through a little corner of the internet. Welcome to Cait’s Corner! Grab a coffee. Sit with me. And let’s begin.
If you’re new here, hello. Bonjour! My name is Caitlin, and I’ve been a Global Partner with Grace Klein since 2018. I left America to work at an international school in Senegal, West Africa. I arrived completely single and already deeply in love with Africa. As with most of my plans, I fully expected to work out my four year contract and then head home to my niece and nephews, wrapping up my semi exciting life as “the cool aunt.”
Fortunately, God loves much bigger than we do. I had been working alongside my future husband the entire time I was in Senegal. Once we started talking, and after our first dinner date, we knew. You can read previous blogs for the full love story. The story is a good one. We were married in 2022 and stayed in West Africa, where God gently prompted us to pursue my husband’s dream of opening a Christian school in his home country of Côte d’Ivoire, or the Ivory Coast if you speak English.
We finally moved to the city where the school would be built at the beginning of 2025. Two months later, we welcomed our baby girl. The rest is the 2025 my new mom brain is still trying to make sense of.
Living in a country I didn’t grow up in isn’t easy. After visiting nearly forty countries as a single woman, I like to think I adapt fairly well, but the experience is different. 2025 has been my marathon. Côte d’Ivoire is our forever home. We are pouring our hearts and prayers into an obedient response to God’s love for the city, the people, and the students of the community.
No, I don’t know the language yet. French is très difficile. I get laughed at and mocked often, but honestly, I enjoy the process and understand why they do so. After more than seven years in West Africa, I know how crucial it is to learn someone’s heart language and to meet people where they are. Knowing American Sign Language and spending two years working at a deaf school taught me so much about the continued learning of another’s language and culture. Like I said, 2025 has been my marathon. I will learn. I’m trying. Most of 2025 was simply about keeping a tiny human alive. Check. Maybe in 2026, I can learn a little more.
If you’re still reading, cheers! The trend of short clips and fast-paced media is slowly destroying my brain’s ability to focus for more than thirty seconds. Anyone else? I’m trying to re-discipline myself to focus deeply again, especially in reading. My current book is Parents Teaching Critical Thinking to Their Children by Stan Gerhart. My current coffee is whatever my husband makes for me before he leaves for work.
So I invite you to join me in 2026 as I share and reflect, honestly and imperfectly, on life as a Jesus loving woman living in West Africa, following a big God with my favorite people.