Monday, July 28, 2008

"....the peace of the Holy Spirit was tangible...."

Here is the latest from Mel .... Monday, July 28th ....

So much has happened in the last week! If you have been praying in anyway for Hope of the Nations, or for any of us out here, let me tell you we saw God work through it!

The week started with us going to Kamala on Tuesday. We stayed in the compound that Hope of the Nations runs that has the pre-school in it (where all the chairs that Kingsfield donated went! I got pics!) We got settled in and then went out immediately for door to door...the coolest ministry ever! Its so great because Tanzania, and I'm sure just Africa in general, is such a relationship oriented place, that everyone is welcoming to you. So, basically in this ministry we walk around and wait for someone to invite us to sit down and talk with them, or we will begin by asking questions. Its so great because we learn a lot about the culture and their lives through it, and as a result are able to share Jesus with them. It's really beautiful. There's nothing like it in America, unfortunately.

So, after door to door, we prepared for Kids Club. I actually got to teach on the Good Samaritan! It was so fun!! Completely chaotic, but so fun. I taught about a hundred 2-5 year olds, so we did a drama to coincide with the teaching. It was awesome! The guys from the team and the intern guys got in on it. Emmi was that man robbed, Jason was the priest, Josh was the Levite, and Mark was the Good Samaritan. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and after when answering questions, seemed to understand what it meant to help others in time of need. Praise God! (it really made me miss teaching!!)

That night, after dinner, Harold basiclly told us that we had our hardest challenge in front of us yet. We were given wrong information, and thus got the wrong working Visas, so immigration was ready to come in and arrest us all for not complying with the law. They wanted Harold to pay an outrageous amount, or jail. There really was no in between. One of the team girls mentioned that we should stay up all night and pray for God to work mightily in this situation, so about 8 of us did, and a few others rotated in throughout the night. It was by far the raddest time I have had here yet. Feeling the oppression of the enemy, but then being overwhelmed instantly by the peace of the Holy Spirit was tangible. The whole night we spent praying, praising, and worshipping the Lord. It was probably the most beautiful time I have ever had in my life. To know that God was in control and that no matter what happened, whether we were thrown in prison, or He took care of the situation some other way, was by far the epitome of having His peace that surpasses all understanding. That morning, we were all so excited to see how God was going to work it out. We knew that we came before Him, and that no matter what happened, He would turn it for good!

Well, He did!!! We weren't thrown in jail, though if we had been it could have been another sweet time to share the love of Christ! We had to spend all of Wednesday basically on lock down in the compound at Kamala...they could have arrested us at any time, as we had already done several weeks of work with the wrong Visa. But, God came through it and Harold paid the amount for us to each have the right Visa. (there are so many more details that I will have to talk with you in person about). BUT!!! If at any time on Tuesday afternoon/night you felt compelled to pray for us out here it is because we were praying for you to intercede for us!!! So, if you were then PRAISE GOD!!!! He is so good and powerful! Such a cool testimony and time at His feet that He allowed us to have!!!!

We didn't do any ministry on Wednesday, just worked helpin Winnie set up her pre-school and a couple of the team guys worked on adding to the playground. On Thursday, my last day of ministry there along with the team's (the interns stayed while we went on safari), we were able to go out door to door again, and have Kids Club again. It was awesome! The interns continued to minister through Saturday in Kamala while we were gone. God is good!

Thursday night I went with the team back to the Bible College to sleep, as we were leaving early Friday morning. We headed to the Mission House (Harold and Coni's house) at about 7:30 and were off by 9:00am. It took a solid 9 hours to get there on the bumpiest roads ever, but it was so much fun. We all took turns riding on the top of the car and inside the car. The guys all road on the bumper! No one was thrown off or hurt, don't worry Moqqi :) We stayed at the Katavi Hippo Garden Hotel. Literally, we could hear hippos walking around at night on the lawns. It was amazing! Don't worry Moqqi, our doors were locked and there were gates and chains on the windows :) On Saturday, we went on our Safari! Wow! What an amazing imagination our Lord has! To be able to create not only the land,but the animals that He has...I am left speechless. The highlights of the Safari were...

*Nearly being charged by a water buffalo! So scary, but socool at thesame time!

*nearly being charged by elephants! So scary, but again, so cool at the same time!

*seeing a brand new baby elephant! It was so cute! We also saw a baby zebra! Love the babies!!!

* Seeing a lioness in a tree just laying there, and then seeing about 4 others that were in a tree about 200 feet away. SO COOL!

This has been such an incredible week! God is amazing! I can't believe that I have less than a week here. I don't know if I'll get to email again, as I leave Kigoma on Sunday, and have to spend the night in Dar Sunday and Monday, and then leave Dar Tuesday morning. Thank you for all of you who have bee praying. God is incredible and He has done so many amazing things.

Love you all,

Mel

Monday, July 21, 2008

I FOUND A GREAT PHOTO SITE!!!

In searching the web for some sample pictures for Mel's blog until she actually can download her own I found this photo website! I have a feeling you guys will recognize a bunch of people!!!! :-)

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3052/2533648970_1c459e8674.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/jribb/2533648970/&h=375&w=500&sz=101&hl=en&start=5&sig2=gCeZJroXmOdOnsMaRPUZYA&tbnid=H13Y3FvnKBi1bM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&ei=EjuFSN6HIpLApgTpu6TBCQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3DKAMALA%2BTANZANIA%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26ie%3DUTF-8

You may have to copy and paste the web address but it's a great photo site!

Safari and Ice Cream and the Kigoma Bakery!



ANOTHER PIC FROM THE NET...MEL CAN REPLACE WHEN SHE DOWNLOADS HERS. :-) MOQQI


I am going to go on Safari this Friday through Sunday with the team!!! I didn't think I'd get to go on one because the interns go after I'm gone, but the Lord totally worked it out so I get to go and not miss out on ministry!!! Hooray!

Well, I think that is all for now. I can't believe I only have a couple weeks left. I understand so much, Eric, how you felt as your time was ending here. I will miss it like I couldn't have imagined. But, Lord willing, I will try to come back every summer I can! I hope and pray you are all doing well. I love you and miss you all! Please pray for this upcoming week. We have an outreach in the next town over, so please pray that God would be glorified through it!!! (the town is called Kamala)

Mel

p.s. Carrie, in one of the notes that you wrote on Thursday, July 17th, you mentioned ice cream and how I was missing it. WEll, God has blessed all of us Americans (and especially Harold!!!) because a few weeks before we got here in Kigoma, they finally got ice cream out here! Between the 8 interns and 11 team members (8 now...3 left early), we had nearly cleaned out the Kigoma Bakery of all their ice cream! So, rest assured, I have had my fair share :)

"To see how excited they were to memorize God's word and have it hidden in their hearts."

THIS IS A PICTURE I GOT OFF THE NET OF JACOBSENS BEACH...MEL DIDN'T TAKE THIS ONE.

On MOnday, us interns and the team from Costa Mesa (they are so awesome!) went to Jacobsen's Beach to set up camp for the week. We were able to get everything set up pretty quickly, so we went and played in Lake Tangynika (sp?) pretty much all afternoon. The rest of the week was really great. It was a Youth Camp for kids 18-24 (basically, its for the young adults that aren't married). It was so incredible to see their hunger for the Lord and the joy that they had in the most simple things. The days were filled with Bible teachings and seminars. Their goal for the week was to memorize Colossians 3...so many of them did it. To see how excited they were to memorize God's word and have it hidden in their hearts. It was such a beautiful week to see how good God is. The simplicity of the gospels and God's love for us was so evident. I love seeing how easy it is for these nationals to trust in God. I pray that one day we could all have that same faith and trust in Him.

Two of the sweetest times I had during the week were helping a few of the nationals to memorize their verses (Lucy, Esther, and another who I can't remember her name). And then I was able to have a really long talk with another national/preschool teacher. Her name is Winni, and she lives with us at Jackson and Esther's house. (PLEASE PRAY FOR ESTHER!!! She is pregnant and really sick right now. There's a chance that if she's not careful she could lose the baby. She has two young boys, Talent and Joshua, so please pray that God would keep her and the baby healthy and well. We're actually moving out of their house so she can rest better, and not feel as though she needs to do anything for us. Living there has been such a blessing, so please please pray that God would protect her! And please pray for her husband during this time. He is really worried about her.)

SUNDAY....JULY 20TH

Okay, so here's a small bit of what we've done in the last week...I'll do my best to remember the details, but we'll see!

Last Sunday I went with a small group to Mose's church!!! (Eric I think you preached there!) Then we went to his house and had lunch! We got to meet his mom, brother, sister, and nephew. I was so blessed being there. They were so warm and welcoming. Eric, as soon as Mosey told his mom that I knew you, the biggest smile came on her face! She started saying something in Swahili, but I couldn't understand it...but, by the way she brightened up, I'm sure it was great things :)

Saturday, July 19, 2008

FOLLOWING ARE PICS OF THE CONTAINER BEING UNLOADED

"Craftsman" A Man's candy store!

Full truck load!

That's some heavy tools!

Kingsfield Chairs

Full Container! Big Smiles!

Guys get to do the tough work!

The Excitement Builds!

Directing the unloading.

Shoes! Glorious Shoes!



As Melissa found out, good, sturdy tennis shoes are so important!

Team members ready to help unload the container.

Smiles all around!

Bilbles have arrived in the container!

Just a short note from Melissa

This morning when I got up Melissa had written a short note. (Saturday, July 19th)Here it is and I'm also going to post some more of the pictures that she sent to me.

moqqi!!!!! i just missed you by a couple hours :( well, i love you and hope you are good. we don't have much time right now, but i have the whole day off on monday to write you a nice long email. the lake was amazing! my right foot is doing much better :)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Action Packers full of donations.



Here Melissa and other team members are going through the "Action Packers" and sorting and organizing the contents.

New "Rides" arrive!



Bicycles, wheel barrows, power tools, blankets, desks and jeans are just some of the items that were sent to Hope of the Nations, Tanzania in the newest container of donated items.

Organizing the donations from the container.



The Team members deciding how to distribute the chairs, desks, action packers full of clothes and much more.

Chairs donated by Kingsfield


Here are chairs that were donated by Kingsfield.

Unloading the container onto the truck.

Getting ready to unload the "Container"


The "Container" with donations has arrived and is getting ready to be unloaded.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Melissa shares a little more about life in the villages of Tanzania


Hey Moqqi,

okay, so we have a little bit of free time today again before we go into a local village a do a kids club (it will only take a couple hours), so i decided to email you a more detailed description of what life is really like out here.

okay, well as far as the cho (bathroom) situation, its pretty narly. i have taken pictures of all the cho's but one...it was on the boat ride home. we had to go in a bucket! i didn't get a picture of it because it was hard to get to and it would have looked weird if we had taken pics. anyway, it was pretty intense because with each rock of the boat, the pee-water would splash around! gross! also, pray for me because when we do get the chance to bathe, it's not super sanitary because we just use the water that's here.

i have had some issues with my feet. coni accidentally gave my shoes to one of the nationals (not realizing they were mine) and when i told him it was a mistake, he misinterpreted it as i was giving them to him. it was actually really sweet and i was super blessed because of it. he was so thankful and truly felt blessed. so, though i'll have to get new shoes at home, those will probably be the nicest shoes he will ever have out here. its crazy. basically all of america's hand-me-downs are what they sell out here. the men wear women's shoes, the girls wear men's. its pretty much whatever fits them and that are somewhat comfortable. its been really humbling. the only down side is that i keep injuring my right foot. i stepped on this bamboo shard that was sticking up out of the sand at the lake in igalula and cut a small hole in the bottom of my foot. a couple days later i got a splinter in my second big toe from stepping on a reed with my left foot and then stepping into it with my right. so, joanne the nurse, dug it out with a needle. ouch! (oh, but the cool thing during that was that i got to see this other locals' ---he's actually the son of a missionary---finger that got crushed from a 150 pound rock falling on it when he was in another village building a church). it definitely made my splinter look miniscule, but i held the flashlight for his dressing, and he held it for mine!! hahahha! i'm such a wimp. then, yesterday, this huge crate arrived and all the guys were unloading it. coni let me be in charge of taking pictures, so i was walking around and stepped on some kind of thorn that went through my sandal into my foot . yeah, it hurt but there was no mark. it wasn't until later that a little bruise thing showed up. i don't think that anything is in it, but the doctor said to just keep it clean. (dr. len is the missionary doctor that is from america that lives out here and he's great!) about the pictures i took yesterday, i will be sending them out for coni's home church to make a slide show, so i will be including your email in on that :) there might not be a lot of me, but know that i was taking them :)

i hope that this email has given you a better idea of what is going on out here. the food is actually pretty good. i have become way more tough in the sense of spiders were crawling all over my legs during one of our kids clubs, and i was just calmly brushing them off. who would have thought!

well, i only have 3 minutes. i hope that this has helped to fill you in better of what life out here is like and what i'm going through somewhat on a daily basis

Melissa returns from Igalulu



THIS IS A PHOTO OF THE MV MWONGOSO, A SHIP THAT TOOK MELISSA FROM KIGOMA TO IGALULU. HERE IS WHAT SHE HAD TO SAY ABOUT HER TRIP TO IGALULU.

Okay, so I only have 11 minutes to get all the details typed from our week long trip in Igalula (not Ululu), so here goes.

The start was interesting. The intern and team guys, along with the national guys, took a boat around noon on Wednesday, and we were supposed (the girls and 4 men to protect us!) take the ship at 3:00pm. Well, the Liemba isn't working right now b/c its transporting refugees back to Congo, so we took the MOngozo (sp?) instead. We didn't wind up leaving until around midnight, so it was great because we slept the whole time! When we got off at around 8:00am Thursday morning, it was intense trying to walk through all the passengers in 3rd class. But, we all got off safely (no one was smashed between the big boat and little boat mom!), and then we were in Igalula in about 20 minutes.

To sum up the week quickly...it was awesome because we were able to go to the lake and bathe/swim nearly everyday so we just felt much cleaner than we did when in Kaseke. We did a lot of door to door ministry, where we would just walk around and wait for people to invite us to sit down and talk with them. They were pretty willing as there are not many white people there ever, so they were extremely open to what we had to say. The crazy thing was the demon huts that a lot of the villagers had built basically to appease the demons. Its so sad because we went to a house and talked with this family who says that they are Christians, but they still had the huts. They dont realize the power of God and that He is bigger than anything else they might fear. Please pray that through the week of us being there that they were able to see and experience His power!

I was able to work in the Pharmacy of the medical clinic for a couple days to let Jason, one of the interns, break free for a time. He has spent all of his time in there, so it was great for him to be able to get out and play with the kids.

There is so much more I want to write, but I only have a few minutes left. I will have to fill you in when I'm home. Also, probably the biggest bummer ever....my camera fell out of my skirt (it was tucked in the elastic part) and the screen pretty much shattered on the inside. I can still take pics, just can't see what i"m taking. Mom, can you check the warranty to see if it is covered with drioping it? ThankS!

Eric, everyone out here greets you and missed you like crazy! They always are asking about you! You made such a huge impact.

Moqqi, I will try to answer your questions next time.

I love oyou all! Hope and pray you are doing amazing! I'm sorry this is so short!

love,
Mel

Melissa is on her way to Ilulu


Well Melissa should be in Ululu right now. She was scheduled to leave from Kigoma on Wednesday to begin a 9 day trip to Ululu. So I don't really expect to hear from her until around 11th or 12th at the earliest.

Coni Knepper told me that "No news is good news" so that has helped alot in between her emails.

Here is Melissa and me at the Bradley International terminal at LAX the day that she left. It was crazy, I heard on the radio today that some nut case went up to the security and told them he was a terrorist. It completely disrupted traffic for several hours around the airport! I hope when she flys back in on August 6th that there aren't any nut cases that day!

Melissa is back from Kaseke (Kuh-say-kay)



Here is the latest email from Melissa. Please continue to pray for her and the team as they travel to the villages and share the gospel.

Okay, so we just got back from Kaseke (Kuh-say-kay) about two hours ago, and now have about an hour and a half to send emails. (Right when we got home, we had to pack up our stuff, as we are staying in Harold and Coni's house and are moving in with one of the nationals, and then we had to do laundry...we got so dirty!) So, here are some of the details I can remember off hand, as I forgot to bring my journal here with me.

*We got to Kaseke and set up our camp with about two hundred kids and adults watching. Pretty much the entire outreach was amazing because sooooo many people came to know Christ! With us putting on the Kids Club, painting the girls nails, crocheting with the older girls (sp?), playing soccer and other games (including some carnival games!), having a medical clinic set up that pretty much ran nonstop from 9:00am to 7:00pm, the villagers were really prepared to hear what we came there for. Thursday night we played "The Jesus Film" in Swahili, and then Friday night we played "The Passion" in which one of our nationals, Gabriel, translated and added commentary in Swahili. The number of people who came to Christ these two nights was incredible!!! I pretty much hung out with this other intern, Jason, the whole time during the movies and we were able to answer some pretty deep questions to some villagers that would come up to us during the movie. One woman wanted help in understanding the trinity so she could better explain it to her Muslim friends. It was awesome! God did so much work there. Unfortunately, on the other hand, the poverty and illness/diseases that were there were overwhelming. Despite the fact that almost all of the people are wearing clothes that they have probably worn for days, maybe months, most have sicknesses or possibly worse diseases, and that they probably don't all get to eat everyday, they had more joy than so many that I've seen in America. It really was a beautiful depiction of what joy is.

*Tonight we're going to the Youth Night at the Bible College. All of the other interns went last Saturday, but since I wasn't in until Sunday, this will be my first time going on that. Tomorrow the "Team" gets here. On Wednesday, we leave for another village outreach. I can't remember the name of it...Ululu???. Anyway, we will be gone for 9 days. I'm so glad that we were able to go on this short one to better prepare us for it. Seriously, we were dirty! It took a long time before the shower water ran clean :)

Okay, I think that is it for now. My time is running short, but I love you all and miss you and I'm praying for you! Please continue to pray that God would be glorified in all that we are doing out here. That our time would not be in vain!!!

Mel

p.s. if you could send this out to anyone who might want to read it, that would be super!

Melissa chased, caught, killed, plucked and cooked a chicken!

Here is the most recent email from Melissa. It sounds like she is have a full experience! She did not take this picture but this is where she will be headed tomorrow.

Hi!!!!

Wow, so i have a lot to tell you about life out here, but I only have 25 minutes left on the timer, so I will send this to a couple of you and if you could send it out to anyone who you think would be interested that would be awesome! First, though, Eric!! Thank you so much for all of your detailed emails. I love it here, and you helped to spark so much of that before I even got here!!! Second, Moqqi...I'm going to try to answer all the questions from your email, but if i don't I will soon :)

Okay, here are some bullet points in case you don't want to read a lot of detail:

*Moqqi...my flight was only 3 1/2 hours late, so i didn't have to sleep in Dar. I got to Kigoma around 4 in the afternoon and then went with Coni and Dr. Len (another missionary out here) to pick up a nurse and her client and baby from the bus stop. The coolest part was when we took them home, I was able to see a real African welcome. All the sisters were screaming and dancing and singing. It was incredible! AFter, i went and met the other 7 interns at the beach where we ate hotdogs and pringles. It was great! (my action packer got here today, so I have my shoes again!)

*Yesterday morning we went on "An Amazing Race" in groups of two to get to know the city. My team basically tied for last place, but that was okay. It was still fun and everyone was "winners" so we all get the prize of eating dinner with Harold and Coni out!

*I chased, caught, killed, and cooked a chicken for dinner last night...and got pictures :) I'm sure everyone would have been proud. (more details below)

*Today we basically spent learning a drama to perform in the villages...we go out tomorrow!!! Please pray for us!

___________________

Okay, so here the more detailed part. I went into a lot of detail above for the first bullet point, so the only thing that I will mention now is that there were monkeys all around us!!! Probably ten feet away at the closest. They wanted our food, but we kept it sealed and guarded. (I got pics) We watched one of the most beautiful sunsets I think I've ever seen.

For the "Amazing Race," we had about 15 destinations around the town to find. My partner, Josh, and i only found about 8, and then one of them was wrong anyway. The bummer for us was that we took a cab for 14,000 shillings ($14), and we only had 15,000 to spend. We weren't able to buy the supplies we needed or take cabs or buses to the other places. Oh well...I think that we will hit them all up sometime on the trip :)

THE CHICKEN!!! After the race, we were told that we would spend the rest of the day as if we lived in Tanzania...women would cook, men would either work or sit around and pretty much not do anything. Well, all the guys chose to work, but they were watching and laughing at me and the other two girls for a long time as well. Basically, there are three girls and our job was to catch a chicken. Once all five were caught, we killed them (i'll spare details here..you can see pics if you choose when i'm at home). AFter killing them, we had to boil them in hot water so the feathers were easier to pluck. Well, they weren't boiled enough because the feathers didn't come out all that easy. After this, we put them on the griller, so they wouldn't go bad. We were supposed to cut and gut them, but we were taking too long and not doing it good enough, so thankfully the cook took over and did it for us :) I really didn't want to do this part. So, now I can say that I have prepared a chicken from scratch...literally.

The drama that we learned all day today is called "Redeemer" and its the one that the church did in Kauai...with a few changes. I think its going to be good, and prayerfully it will reach the people we show it to.

I think that is all for now. i only have a few minutes left. We go into a village tomorrow, i think it's Kaseki (Eric, you would know better than me) and don't get back until Saturday morning. I don't know when I can email next, but I'm sure I'll have a lot to say :)

Mel

The Kneppers, Harold and Coni and The Hope of the Nations, Tanzania

Here is a video of The Hope of the Nations in Kigoma, TZ where Melissa is. Harold and Coni Knepper are Jono's parents and they run it. This video shows interns and the Kneppers and some of the work that they do.

The Hope of the Nations Medical Outreach

This is the medical outreach that Hope of the Nations is doing in Kigoma.

Kigomo, Tanzania Hope of the Nations Kids Club

Mel helps with the "Kids Club". Here's a video showing what kinds of things she and the other interns will be doing.


Map of Tanzania


So that you can get an idea of where Melissa is....she landed in Dar Es Salaam on the coast on the right and is flying to Kigoma on the coast on the left. I believe the Kigoma area in Tanzania is where Jane Goodall did her work with the chimpanzees. I have been reading other blogs on the internet and all mention that there are a lot of monkeys and chimpanzees about Kigoma.

Melissa is in Dar Es Salaam - Her first email...

Here is Melissa's first email from Tanzania....I was on the computer when her email came through...
Hey moqqi! I am in Dar es Salem right now waiting for my flight to Kigoma. So far, so good...just a lot of flying. I think that in total, after this flight to Kigoma, I will have spent a full 24 hours in the air. But, the good thing is that most of it was at night, so sleeping was easy. Also, in both planes I had a personal dvd player, so I was able to watch a movie if not reading or sleeping. There's not a lot to write about yet. The weather's not too hot, it is humid, though. I saw some pretty cool lightning storms while we were flying over Egypt somewhere. The only bummer about flying at night is that I wasn't able to see Africa...but today I should. Hopefully I will get a window seat. Okay, I think that is all for now. Tell dad, Brian, Caila, and Hudson (and everyone else) that I love them and will send more emails as I can. Love you!Mel

London and Starbucks Iced Soy Chai with an extra pump of Chai!


After about 9 1/2 hours of flying time Melissa arrived in London Heathrow and low and behold we found out that we're able to text message back and forth! Of course this made Kevin and I very happy to know she landed safely after the first leg of her trip. Then shortly afterward Melissa sent a picture to us! Eureka, a Starbucks in the Heathrow airport! God was so sweet to let her have her last little bit of yumminess before she graduates to "Bush Tea"!!
She's in the air right now on her way to Dar Es Salaam. We aren't sure if she'll be able to text from there, but who knows? Once she arrives in Dar Es Salaam she will change planes again and get on a Precision Air plane to fly the rest of the way into Kigoma, Tanzania. From what we understand it can probably be equivalent to an "E Ticket" ride at Disneyland...all you old timers will understand. And she was advised that when she was offered a snack...she might want to politely say, "No thank you." But, he wouldn't tell her what the snack was, just that he's had it and his wife never has!! Hmmmmm, wonder what it is?

Her Chariot awates!


Kevin and I went upstairs at the Bradley Terminal. They have a great set-up of shops and restaurants that you can go to. We were able to see her plane waiting at her gate. It wound up taking off 137 minutes late! So in all actuality she was there with LOTS of time to spare!

Bye, bye, bye.......

Melissa with her Wall-E pillow heads for the British Airways departure gate.

With a relieved smile on her face!


The lines moved quick and before we knew it Melissa had her boarding passes and was ready to go through the security checkpoint - with an hour to spare.

Getting her boarding passes.


In front of us in line was a family of four that were traveling to Egypt. They hadn't been there for 10 years and were really looking forward to their trip. They had 3 rolling luggage carts, each carrying 3 very large suitcases. Then each one of them had a rolling carry-on suitcase and a backpack. It was a mountain of luggage and looked like it would take a long time for them to check in! I asked them if they were going to be gone long, the wife said 2 weeks! We just couldn't imagine what they would have in all that luggage, maybe gifts for family or something.
Melissa finally made it up to the check-in counter to get her boarding passes. One of the British Airways customer service people had told her that she didn't need to worry, she had plenty of time.

In line to check in at Bradley Terminal

She was supposed to be at Bradley Terminal 3 hours prior to her flight taking off to go through the check in process. Well we got there 2 hours prior and the lines were crazy long! She was a bit stressed out wondering whether or not there would be enough time for her to get checked in and through security before her flight took off.

Melissa begins her mission trip to Kigoma, TZ


Last night, Friday night (6/20th) Kevin and I drove Melissa up to LAX so she could catch her British Airways flight to begin her mission trip. She flew from LAX to London Heathrow and there she changed planes and took another British Airways flight to Dar Es Salaam, TZ. She's on that flight in the air right now as I type. She will land in Dar Es Salaam at 7:00 a.m. their time and then will catch another small plane (Precision Air) to get to Kigoma. I'm not sure how long that flight will be.
What an adventure so far! She has been preparing for months for this trip and she had everything that she needs (we think) but 15 minutes into our drive to LAX she realized that she'd left her glasses in her car...at home... So we debated whether to turn around and get them or not. We were in the middle of Camp Pendleton with only one exit to turn around possible before we were completely stuck. So, we turned around. We all decided it was important for her to be able to see while she is in Africa. Now the race was on because we had already left a little later than we would have liked to.