Africa Part 2

So we landed in Namibia after about 24 hours of travel. We flew from Denver to DC and met Casey there. From DC we flew 16 hours to Johannesburg South Africa and had to run to make our flight to Windhoek, Namibia. When we got to Namibia we discovered that half of our bags were missing. Everyone but Casey had at least one bag missing and both of mine were gone. Luckily I had a change of clothes and all my medicine and most toiletry stuff in my carry on.

I was able to introduce the team to John and Martie that night and then we went to a hotel to sleep before driving to Tsumeb the next day. It's a 5 hour drive from Windhoek (capitol) to Tsumeb where John and Martie live. Along the drive we kept seeing signs telling drivers to watch for warthogs on the road. We did see a few baboons in the trees but no warthogs. The country was so green and beautiful - a lot different that the last time I was in Namibia when it was summer there and dry.

When we got to Tsumeb John took us around the town and showed us the new church building/bible school - a definite upgrade from the one they had when I was there last and the orphanage. The building that the orphanage is in is what used to be the church building. We were able to meet the children who live at the orphanage and play with them for a little while before going to John and Martie's house. I will write more about the kids later - they deserve their own post.

The next day was Sunday so we went to services and were able to worship with the congregation in Tsumeb. Everyone was so welcoming! We were luck enough to get our luggage back that morning which was good since we were planning on leaving for Etosha - Namibia's largest game reserve after services that morning.

Etosha will be the next post. I also deserves it's own and will have lots of pictures.

Happy 18 month birthday

My little girl is 18 months old today! I can't believe it has gone by so fast. She is so much fun - running all over the place, talking all the time, giggling etc. She loves kisses, tickling people and reading books. I love that she gets so excited and says "Mama" every time she sees me.

I could go on on but it is actually bath time and if you delay her bath she gets upset. I am so incredibly blessed by this sweet girl!

I have lots more pictures, these are just the only ones on this computer...all the others are on Josh's computer!

Africa Part One

Well, before we get to the actual Africa trip I will talk a little about what lead up to me going on the trip. A little over a year ago I was at an area-wide youth retreat that my friend Casey spoke at. The theme was Unsafe. I had already been thinking for a long time that I wanted to go back to Africa but the timing never seemed to work out. At that retreat God was really speaking to me through some of what Casey Pate was saying and I decided that I was going to make a trip happen. I talked to Josh and we decided that March would be a good time for me to go with his schedule. I started to put some of the pieces into place and eventually asked some friends to go and announced to my church that I was going and whoever wanted to go with me was welcome but that the details/dates etc were set. I was excited when 4 other people decided to go also but I also would have been content to go on my own. I have gone to Africa several times before and love it. It's hard to explain it really. There is something about the people and the land that really get into your heart and changes you. I wasn't sure if and when I would get to go back again so I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. I will always try to encourage the kids Josh works with, as well as adults to get involved in missions - it really is a powerful experience and an incredible way to share Christ.

Anyway....It was a challenge to figure out what Josh and I were going to do with Addison while I was gone. Eventually we decided that she would spend time with 2 of the 3 set of grandparents so that Josh could still work since Connie, who takes care of her during the days was also going on the trip.

At first I wasn't nervous about it leaving Addison, I got worried as the trip got closer just because it was the longest I have been away from her - before that it has just been a weekend. She is a pretty adaptable and flexible little girl so I thought she would do well but I was still nervous about how it would affect her. She ended up doing great and not having any problems at all other than that she was still recovering from being sick the week before.

Josh was great and so supportive of me going. He had been to the same place in Namibia that I was going to - we went together 7 years ago so he had a good idea of where I would be, what I would be doing and who I would be with etc. He helped me do everything I needed him to in order to get me ready to go.

It was a rough few weeks before we left. I was working long days and even some weekends. Addie had been sick for almost 2 weeks and worse more sick than she had ever been before. It seemed like there was so much going on. I ended up getting sick the Sunday before we left and just tried to ignore how bad I felt. I kept telling myself I could sleep on the plane.

We finally were able to leave on March 3rd - ready to go to Tsumeb Namibia and work with John and Martie D'Alton, the Tsumeb Bible School, an orphanage there and help build a church building in a village in Northern Namibia.