We were in gone for a total of16 days, from May 11 thru the 27th. It took one full day to get there and a day and a half to get home, leaving us 2 full weeks on the ground in Africa. We flew out of Dulles in Washington, DC. Our Daughter, Lisa, met us in DC and went with us on our trip. Her husband, Brian, volunteered to keep their 4 children ages 12 to 2, so that she could go with us. It is a blessing to have a good son-in-law.
It was a straight flight with only one stop in Dakar, Senegal, West Africa, to refuel and take on some new passengers, but since we didn't get out of the airplane, I don't count it as a country I have been to. In my world, I have to actually get out of the airplane and out of the airport before I count it as a country I have visited.
Dakar was about half way. Like I said it was a VERY long trip getting there and back. We landed in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the evening and were met by George Hammett. Then we set off on a 4 hour car trip up to the city where he and his family live called Tzeneen. Not sure of the spelling of this town. For the next week George and Kristin treated us like kings and were our tour guides, and hosts. We were able to go with George to one of his Studies and to meet several of the people he is working with in his city. It was great.
These folks also took time out of their lives to take us to Krueger Park, which is a very large game reserve, about the size of the state of New Jersey. We took two jeep safaris, one morning and one evening, and one driving tour in our own vehicle. We saw every animal there was, with the exception of the cheetah and rhino. What we did see were scores of elephants, zebras, giraffe, monkeys, one full-mane male lion about 15 feet from our open sided vehicle :O That was a teeny bit hairy! He did not seem surprised to see us and stopped in the middle of the road to look at us. We were all speechless to see him and nobody moved or breathed until he mosied on off the road and into the bush. This was the first safari and it was in the early evening.
More later, hopefully tomorrow. My grandson is trying to eat bugs. Gotta go!!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Almost a Year Ago
My last blog post here was almost 1 year ago. A case of too much to do and too little time to do it. However, several folks have requested that I try harder and get the blog up and running again. No promises will be made, except that I will try in the time I have.
We are in the United States for awhile at the moment, but we are now living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, having moved from Bangkok over a year ago. Tom and I as well as our whole team like this city much better. Although it has 3 and 1/2 million people, compared to Bangkok's over 13 million, it has a small town feel to it. There is nowhere in town that we can't get to in a matter of minutes rather than hours, as it was in Bangkok. We have better housing, amenities, but much more important than all of that, we have access to a large and varied ethnic community of folks who want to help with the translation projects that are always underway.
Right now we have 7 paid staff, and 3 missionaries including Tom and I. In addition to these, we have short term helpers coming and going all of the time, much like it has always been. For all of of you who come to help, we thank you. For those of you who have stayed for the long haul we appreciate all of you more than you know. Many have come at their own expense, to take up the slack, putting their own lives on hold while working with us. God reward all of you according to His riches.
As far as Tom and I are concerned, neither of us are getting any younger and various and sundry health problems keep popping up. Fortunately, health care in Thailand is excellent and inexpensive, so for that we are most thankful.
Our 40th wedding anniversary was June the 4th. We were in Thailand, I sitting in my chair and Tom in the living room, when he told me that he wanted to go somewhere very special for our 40th. He asked me where I wanted to go. I gave it some thought, considering all the wonderful places we had visited over the years that I would love to return to, but I knew the one place that I had waited for 47 years to visit was the only place that would be "IT." I told him that I wanted to go to Africa! It was humorous in the fact of the dead silence that followed that statement. I guess the dollar signs were flashing in his head or he was in shock or something:) Anyway, he said, when his voice returned that is, "Let's start making plans." I said I wanted to go in the African winter, because I can't tolerate the heat well any more. Isn't it amazing that Africa was just heading into winter when our anniversary was rolling around? As I mentioned before, Tom and I both have health issues, but by the Grace of God alone, all of our ailments miraculously just halted for the 16 days that we were in Africa. There is no such thing as "luck." It was all planned and orchestrated by the hand of the One who is in control of it all. In the next few days, I will tell you about Africa and other blessings of the trip. I promise I will not procrastinate on this one.
We are in the United States for awhile at the moment, but we are now living in Chiang Mai, Thailand, having moved from Bangkok over a year ago. Tom and I as well as our whole team like this city much better. Although it has 3 and 1/2 million people, compared to Bangkok's over 13 million, it has a small town feel to it. There is nowhere in town that we can't get to in a matter of minutes rather than hours, as it was in Bangkok. We have better housing, amenities, but much more important than all of that, we have access to a large and varied ethnic community of folks who want to help with the translation projects that are always underway.
Right now we have 7 paid staff, and 3 missionaries including Tom and I. In addition to these, we have short term helpers coming and going all of the time, much like it has always been. For all of of you who come to help, we thank you. For those of you who have stayed for the long haul we appreciate all of you more than you know. Many have come at their own expense, to take up the slack, putting their own lives on hold while working with us. God reward all of you according to His riches.
As far as Tom and I are concerned, neither of us are getting any younger and various and sundry health problems keep popping up. Fortunately, health care in Thailand is excellent and inexpensive, so for that we are most thankful.
Our 40th wedding anniversary was June the 4th. We were in Thailand, I sitting in my chair and Tom in the living room, when he told me that he wanted to go somewhere very special for our 40th. He asked me where I wanted to go. I gave it some thought, considering all the wonderful places we had visited over the years that I would love to return to, but I knew the one place that I had waited for 47 years to visit was the only place that would be "IT." I told him that I wanted to go to Africa! It was humorous in the fact of the dead silence that followed that statement. I guess the dollar signs were flashing in his head or he was in shock or something:) Anyway, he said, when his voice returned that is, "Let's start making plans." I said I wanted to go in the African winter, because I can't tolerate the heat well any more. Isn't it amazing that Africa was just heading into winter when our anniversary was rolling around? As I mentioned before, Tom and I both have health issues, but by the Grace of God alone, all of our ailments miraculously just halted for the 16 days that we were in Africa. There is no such thing as "luck." It was all planned and orchestrated by the hand of the One who is in control of it all. In the next few days, I will tell you about Africa and other blessings of the trip. I promise I will not procrastinate on this one.
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