Let the Journey Begin!

Where to begin.... Well, we checked through the screening checkpoint at Grand Rapids airport on Saturday morning. When we arrived at our gate, we noticed that there was no plane there and the sign said that the flight was delayed. This put Anita and I into a bit of a tailspin to start our new life adventure. But, we just prayed that God would work out the details and that we would get to Beautiful Gate at His appointed time. Shortly after the prayer, I went to the check in counter and asked about future connections. The guy behind the counter was very friendly and helped us to get another connection to Washington D.C. and still make our connection from Washington D.C. to Joberg. So, our flight out of GR was delayed by an hour. After arriving in Chicago, we found our next connection to Washington D.C. and literally had about 5 minutes left to get some lunch (McDonalds) and then they started to board our flight to Washington. After wolfing down the lunch, we boarded the plane and found that we were bumped up to economy plus seating, which has a little more leg room. What a blessing from God! He listened to our prayer and blessed us with more than we asked for. After arriving in Washington D.C., we had to transfer gates again, but this time with only about 1.5 hours, instead of the 3.5 hours that we had originally had planned. So, we once again grabbed the kids and walked to the next gate, which would take us to Johannesburg. After arriving at the gate, we had about 10 minutes to get situated and they started to board that flight as well. But, we were now back onto our normal schedule of flights! Once aboard that plane, we were able to relax a little and just get some rest. The kids had fun watching movies and did a great job with all the sitting. Elijah sat next to a South African lady that helped him a lot on the flight and she taught Elijah many new things. i.e. you "pick up" trash, but you "fetch" people. So, after many hours of flying and having to wait on the plane while they fueled it in Dakar, we finally arrived in Johannesburg on time. We were also amazed that every single piece of luggage arrived too! Yeah God!

Kevin and Sue fetched us at the airport and we spent a wonderful evening at their house. The first thing that Anita and the kids noticed was the heat. The sun was already starting to set and it was about 75-80 degrees. The feal of the open windows in the back of the van to Kevin and Sue's house was wonderful. From what I hear, it sounds like we left just in time (snow). That night at Kevin and Sue's place, the kids had a very restless night (adjusting to the new time zone), but we survived it.

At noon on Monday, Kevin took us to say "cheers" to Sue at her workplace and then proceeded to take us to the airport. We had to do some creative packing, as we needed to adjust some of our carry-on weight. We forgot to move our camera out of a checked in bag, and we believe that we have "donated" the camera to an airport worker. Oh well. So, the only picture we have of traveling is of the kids in front of the giraffe in the Joburg Airport. Anyone who has flown through there will know what I am talking about. The flight to Maseru was on time and uneventful. We were 5 of the people on the flight that had a total of 19 people on it. But, I am pretty sure that we were at least 50% of the luggage on the plane. Once we cleared customs in Maseru, Ray and Sue were there to greet us and help us with the bags. They drove us back to Beatiful Gate and Anita and I both felt as if we were home. We were both uneasy in Joberg, but feel right at home at Beautiful Gate.

Our new "suitemate" made dinner for everyone and we had a great time of fellowship. Then Ray and Sue left to go home and Anita and I put the kids to bed and started to unpack some more. All in all, the Lord has been watching over us and we are greatful for this opportunity to serve "the least of these."

This morning we were able to go outside and play with some of the kids here. As you can see from the pictures, Elijah, Faith & Mercy had very little problem finding friends.

I will try to post pictures later, as I am experiencing some technical difficulties with uploading pictures (slow internet). We pray that God will bless you today, as He has blessed us this past weekend.