February 1, 2008

Hello all of our beloved friends and family,

We are currently safe and sound in the London Heathrow Airport, although the route we took to get here was not exactly what we had planned.

Our flight out of Dayton to Chicago was cancelled at 5:00 p.m. Thursday night. I ran down to the ticket office and had only one option that was really acceptable that would allow us to catch our 7:00 p.m. flight out of London to Nairobi on February 1st. To do this, we had to drive down to the Cincinnati Airport and catch an 8:40 p.m. flight from there to London. Good, right? Well, sort of.

The flight from Cincy would get us to London, but not to Heathrow Airport. Instead, that flight took us to the Gatwick Airport in London. We arrived there at 9:00 a.m. London time. Then we had to collect all ten pieces of luggage, plus our carry-ons, (oh, and the kids also), and catch a bus that would take us to the Heathrow Airport, about an hour away.

We are now at Heathrow, patiently waiting our flight to Nairobi at 7:00 p.m. On the bus ride over to Heathrow, Josiah complained of having a stomachache. We didn't think too much of this, however, as we had just disembarked from the airplane and the food wasn't that good. We parked ourselves on a bench after clearing customs at Heathrow, and Josiah promptly fell asleep. When he woke up at 1:00 p.m., he then proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach onto the terminal bench where he was sleeping. Okay, to say it succinctly, he threw up all over the bench.

That little activity caught the attention of a British Airways higher-up who called the paramedics and the paramedics showed up riding a little bicycle loaded with medical gear. He checked Josiah all out (he's feeling a little bit better now), and then sent us to the Kenya Airlines VIP members-only club called the Holideck. We are all currently at the Holideck where only the "high rollers" get to go. Go figure.

Julie and Emily are trying to sleep and Amy and Josiah are coloring. We are all in a little private room. It is very quiet. It is a nice little reprieve after all of our original plans for last night went up in flames.

One other story and then I'll let you go for now. Emily lost her iPod. She just knew she had put it in her backpack after we left the Dayton Airport last night, but could not for the life of her find it this afternoon when she went to look for it. The only thing we thought could have happened to it was that the security guard at the Cincinnati Airport stole it while he was looking through the bag. (This is a whole other story that I won't relate now, but that caused us much consternation last night). Anyway, she was crying a lot because this is a very valuable thing and it means a lot to her. She was a little angry at first, but then she began to pray and told God it would be okay if she never found her iPod and that she wouldn't be angry. Amy, Julie and I were praying, too. (Josiah was sleeping, preparing to throw up on the bench).

We totally scoured through her backpack but could not find it. We had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that it was gone when, you wouldn't believe it, but she looked in her laptop bag, AND THERE IT WAS! Praise God. We all started crying, (except Josiah, who was sleeping and preparing to throw up on the bench), and thanking God for His goodness and love towards us.

We have been safely in His hands all along, beloved, even when our flight was cancelled and we had to race to Cincinnati, and some over-zealous security guards thought we must have been terrorists or something. He knows what He's doing. It's all for our good and His glory!

Well, I will go now. We love you all. We miss you all so much already. Thank you all that came to the lunch and the airport to see us off. We left the United States knowing how loved we are and how missed we will be. I will try to keep you posted along the way as to how things are going.

God bless,

Roger

Hey All,

Well, we're here. It's 8:40 p.m. Tanzania time on Saturday - 12:40 p.m. your time. I'm sorry I can't e-mail right at this moment. Apparently, some of the rooms don't have wireless connection and ours is one of them.

It's been quite a day. We've actually been here since about 2:30, 3:00. The trip from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro was by far the most difficult of our journey. We got through the airport okay, then had to find a taxi bus at the airport to get us to a certain bus terminal in another city - don't think of American bus terminals; no, no, no. Think of a Kenyan market with hawkers and then transplant that to a bus terminal. Our taxi driver stayed with us until we found the right bus line, then helped us speak to the driver - who didn't speak English - to make sure we could be dropped off at the language school. As Roger and our taxi driver worked this out, the kids and I had to stay locked in a very hot van (it at least had a window roof). The poor kids were miserable - it was just so hot, and we were alone with hawkers of all kinds of goods trying to sell their wares. No one bothered us, though. Finally, we took all our luggage to a big bus and they stored it all under the bus in storage compartments and we got on. We were the only wazungu in the whole bus (that's white people). The trip to Morogoro was three hours in the sweltering heat, but some people had their windows open, so when the bus was going, it was okay. I started to freak out in my mind on the bus, but then was completely okay. Roger says I had "that look" of panic. I really can't explain to you how scary it was. I'll have to let Roger tell you from his side.

Amy was fascinated with everything she saw. She wanted to know what everything was in Swahili and at one point she started to cry. I asked her why, and she said she felt bad for the people because they look like they have such hard lives. Ahhh, her sensitive spirit begins to look outward instead of inward.

We finally arrived at the language school. We got dropped off at the road side with all our luggage - all eighteen pieces of it, including carry-ons. We felt immediately like we had neon signs saying, "Americans". I'm sure nobody else brought so much stuff! It was quite a sight, watching us lug - with some help, of course - all that STUFF all the way up to the school. It was even worse when they opened up our room and we saw how very little it is! There are two bedrooms, each with two single beds. Actually, Amy and Josiah's room has a bunk bed. The room is hardly big enough for it. Emily has her very own room right behind us. I can look out my window and see that her light is still on. Up writing, no doubt.

Basically, we're camping out for four months. The people here are very kind and helpful. They even set out some food just for us because they knew we were tired and hungry. I really did very well up to this point, but when I laid down for a little nap, things really hit me. I'm stuck here. There are really big black and red millipedes that are poisonous, and they're all over the place. It's very hot and even humid here. The children have been sick and I'm a little concerned about them. I miss my friends and family, and though I've been to Africa before, this isn't like being at Mike and Pam's house! We're completely on our own! It's been a pretty rough evening. Roger and I both would love to just come home. Both of us feel totally out of our element. But when I look back at everything God has done to get us here, I know it's where we're supposed to be. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our marriage will grow here, our family relationship will grow here, and our walk with Christ will grow here. But the process of that out in front of us is so overwhelming.

Please pray for us during this time of adjustment. We don't want to be here for three years right now. We know we're experiencing jet lag on top of everything, and that makes it worse. They say it takes one day of recovery for every time zone you cross, and we crossed seven. But, the enormity of it all just really hit us today - both of us.

So far, Emily insists she's just fine. We'll see if that continues. Pray for her and the kids as well.

Love,

Julie

Roger's Perspective:

It is five in the morning where you all are. In a couple of hours you will be heading to your respective churches. We miss you all terribly. I'm writing just to fill in some details Julie left out of her letter. Yes, we are safe and sound at the language school, although the fact that we are here is a tribute to the greatness and goodness of our God. We were excited to arrive at the airport at Tanzania, but I knew the hardest part of our trip was still ahead of us.

In the Tanzanian airport, we were in a long line of people waiting to clear immigration. An immigration officer walked past probably thirty people, but when he saw us he came right up to us. He wanted our passports and five hundred dollars. I was reluctant, but didn't want to go to jail either, so I gave him both (probably foolish, I know). As he walked away, I figured we would never see him again. When he returned, he told us to get out of line and wait in a different area. He didn't turn out so bad, though. After a while, he returned our passports and the five hundred dollars went toward ninety-day visas so we could enter the country.

We proceeded to get our luggage (by the way, remind me next time to take about half as much luggage) and find a taxi to the bus service. That was the easiest part of the trip. A taxi was easy to find, but I dropped 30,000 shillings to the three guys who put our luggage in the back. That's approximately $30. I got swindled, I know, but at least I can use that as a baseline for next time. The bus service and bus trip were not nearly as nice as Julie described. I have never felt more out of my element or helpless in my entire life. The first lesson God is teaching me in all this is total dependence upon Him.

The bus station was a madhouse and it is only by the grade of God that we even got on a bus in the first place. We sat in the very back of the bus and I was not confident at all that the driver knew where we were supposed to be dropped off. He spoke no English and I spoke no Swahili. That combination, along with fifty other people on the bus, made for a nerve-wracking trip. I prayed for two-and-a-half hours that God would get us to the language school. I resigned myself totally to His mercy. He did not fail us. This is the second lesson God is teaching me: pray and trust, pray and trust, pray and trust. I guess this is a good thing. Prayer for me in the U.S. was more of a convenience. Here it is a necessity.

Anyway, we are at the language school. Africa is beautiful, even though, as Julie has said, our living conditions are small. Amy and Josiah fell asleep around 4:00 p.m. and did not wake up until 6:00 a.m. this morning. Josiah threw up again at breakfast, but he ate something at lunch, so maybe he's past the worst of it. Julie and I sat on our bed last night and talked and prayed and cried together. It was a long and hard day, but God will use this in our lives to strengthen us and do His will in our lives. He has been good to us and we are learning to love and trust Him more.

To some of you I am sure that this letter is hard to read and you think me a fool for bringing my family here. Trust me, I thought the same thing many times yesterday, but God's mercies are renewed every morning and this morning was no exception. We have a better outlook on things and desire to glorify our God in this part of Africa. One of the "Sisters" who is taking language school here told us the difference between the last time we were in Africa and this time is the fact that this time we have no return ticket. Probably true. If my letter seems a little "down" it is because I am recalling my thoughts and emotions from yesterday. Today has been much better. When we are weak, God is strong. It is when we are at the end of ourselves that we begin to discover how big and wonderful He is. Don't worry for us, beloved. But please, do pray for us.

God bless you all until we can write again.

Roger

From Julie - 1:30 Sunday

Breakfast today was wonderful - kind of like the bananas are to die for. We had eggs and some kind of yogurt (boiled and cooled milk), finger millet, granola (those last three mixed together) and mango. Lunch was spaghetti, homemade rolls, beef and watermelon. After breakfast we had our own little church service, complete with Bible lesson, prayer, and singing. It's beautiful and peaceful here. We found a chameleon on a tree and had a good look at it, and it at us. The room is unpacked and put together, and the kids are out playing together.

We love you all,

Julie