Team Meeting June 19th

We met for our third meeting last night here at our house. Lisa, Anthony and Connie, Brandon, Paul, Laura, Lanny and I gathered for a question and answer session, a little more paperwork and good fellowship. Just a little over six weeks until we board that plane for Africa!! Time is flying by so I know it will be here before we know it! We will have one more meeting on July 24th.

Lisa is our team leader and the only one in this years' team that has been before.

Brandon, Lanny and I are rookies, so Lisa has her hands full!!

Of course we had to eat a little :-)

There has been a LOT of paperwork to fill out, lots of information... 

but it looks like everything is falling into place.

What Will We Do With Our DOGS and CAT!!!

I guess you are wondering what's gonna happen to our FurBabies while we are in Africa...well, we will have an absolutely fantastic house/pet sitter while we are away. Our sitter is studying Veterinary Medicine (wow, right?) and has been house and pet sitting for years. We are so excited that we don't have to put our babies in a kennel...even the finest ones are still not home. I will be totally at ease about leaving them in Nichole's hands. And our family, our kids, our grandkids, my parents and sister and Lanny's brother all live nearby, so they will all come in and out to make sure those little critters don't miss us too much. I know to many of you out there that don't have FurKids it might be silly, even a little over the top, to worry about such things, but we just do. So this is going to be GREAT!!! Check THAT off the list!

Miss Kitty

Maggie Mae

Mitzi

Tickets!!

We received our eTickets yesterday. We will leave Knoxville on Tuesday afternoon, August 5th and head for Dulles Airport in Washington. Then we will board South African Airways for Johannesburg...a 17 1/2 hour flight. I have never been a good sleeper on airplanes - even our past two international adventures to Tokyo and Europe were long flights with very little, if any, sleep...I am hoping I can break that record this time and get more than a few ZZZZ's :-) God will take care of it I know! We will get an evening and full night in Johannesburg (in a fabulous hotel, I am told) to rest up before we fly to Lilongwe, Malawi, arriving there on Thursday. That gives us a little over a week on the ground. It's getting close and it's getting exciting!!!

Team Meeting May 8, 2014

We had our very first meeting in early April...Lisa, Anthony, Connie, Lanny and I met at Panera Bread. 

Our second meeting was at our home on May 8th with Pastor Steve and Faye, along with our team leader Lisa, Anthony and Connie, Martin and Connie, Paul and Marie, Brandon, Nancy, Laura, Lanny and me. We had some food (of course) and enjoyed the fellowship, prayer, and encouragement of those who have gone to Malawi in the past.

Our team with be small this year: Lisa, Brandon, Lanny and me. Steve and Faye cannot go this year because Faye is having hip replacement...she fought it hard but just could not put it off any longer. Martin and Connie, and Anthony and Connie also cannot go, but these seasoned missionaries and prayer warriors will not leave our sides while we are there....they will be with us every step of the way in spirit! And we could not make it without them...

Lisa shared some information about the absolute essentials...like shots, passports, paperwork, etc. We discussed things we needed to take with us and just learned a little about the country, the weather, the terrain, the miles and miles and miles we will walk :-) and the work we will be doing. And we had a time of prayer to ask God's blessing on our travels, our ministry and comfort for those left behind. 

Pastor Steve shared the basics in evangelism to Malawi: how to use the Evangcube and speak thru an interpreter. We will go out one by one with our own interpreter and walk from village to village sharing the Good News! Naturally, Lanny and I are a little nervous about that...neither of us has had that experience...but we will soon!!

Connie and Maggie hit it off immediately!!!

And of course we had to have S'Mores!! Steve LOVES S'Mores!!! Well, all of us do!

Can't have a gathering in these parts without a little food! I wish I had known some good South African recipes, but we just had to make do with what we had :-) and I DID play South African Gospel on the stereo...

These were the biggest strawberries I'd ever seen...they were called clamshell...I am sure they are GMO but we ate them anyway...there is an abundance of good fruit in Malawi, I'm told!

Getting Ready For Africa

Our tickets are bought and lodging reservations are made. We still have some shots and incidentals to take care of, but for the most part we are READY!! My hope is to publish photos and highlights of each day of our trip. We should have internet access in the evenings and I am most certainly taking my camera!! Mark your calendars...August 5th thru the 16th. 

We will have a house/dog sitter staying in our home to care for our little fur babies (which was a big concern for us on such an extended time away). 

We are so excited and covet your prayers now and while we are there. God is good, and we know that He has much in store for us as we go to share the Good News with the people in Malawi!!