We have been in Indiana all week recuperating with our children. This evening we arrived home in Ventura. What follows is part of a post I meant to post on Monday but couldn’t find the energy to finish and a bit of summing up.We landed in Indianapolis late last Sunday night. Our flight was delayed. Not funny. The layover in Abu Dhabi and the flight home was a bit of a stretch. The Abu Dhabi airport was filled with smoke and I got nauseous. And then on the flight I just couldn’t really sleep and continued to feel nauseated off and on. But we landed safely at JFK and that’s what counts. After visiting all the other countries we had visited I felt very blessed to be standing in the US PASSPORT HOLDERS ONLY line. I wondered how many people in the FOREIGN PASSPORT HOLDERS line wished they were in my line. The US isn’t perfect and we have our share of problems, but I am GRATEFUL this is where my citizenship lies. (Show me more…)
We arrived safely in Johannesburg last night after a long day of travel. Thankfully we were traveling on Emerates airlines, national airline of the United Arab Emerates. As you can imagine, this means they can afford to spare no expense. We were flying on the latest in jumbojet fashion, the Boing 777. It was sweet. Each seat was equipped with a 10″ monitor and hundreds of movies to choose from, plus games and TV shows and video cameras displaying the view from the nose of the plane to keep an eye on how straigt a line the pilot could drive down the runway.
Tomorrow we leave for the rural area north of Johannesburg. It looks to be beautiful country in a completely different setting.
Our last day in India was amazing. We visited a Sunday school in a small village here in Chennai early this morning. We had the opportunity to visit one of the boys in his home near the church. It was a small single room dwelling with a small separate kitchen the size of a closet. The boy lives there with his mother and father, sister and brother. He was such a happy little guy. It was very cool talking to him about his faith and the Bible. Afterwards his mother asked us to pray for them to find a place with more room. Right.
In the afternoon we drove a couple hours down the coast to a small fishing village. We parked and took a “fairy” boat across the river then walked a couple hundred meters to a grass hut on the beach where they were having Sunday school. (Show me more…)
Tomorrow is our last day in India. We are going to be visiting some Sunday schools and visiting children in their homes. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that we are able to connect with the children on a deeper level. Thanks!
We were finally able to update our photostream now that we are out of China (flickr is blocked there). To see our China or India Photosets first click on the title of this post above then click here or visit http://flickr.com/photos/nims and click on the “China” or “India” photosets.
Maybe we have been traveling too much… our 6.5 hour flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur seemed like a trip to Thousand Oaks from Ventura! (that’s about 30 minutes if you’re not familiar with the area)
Before we share more of our adventures, we want to thank all of your for your encouragement and prayers. We truly feel the Holy Spirit carrying us through our days. Knowing that you are thinking about us makes us feel not so far away & eases our homesickness. Thank you. (Show me more…)
We’re leaving for Chennai, India tomorrow morning. Our time in China has been so full, our arrival here a week ago seems so long ago.
Yesterday was the highlight of our time here. We were invited to visit and film a house church sunday school, the same sunday school that the two boys who’s home we visited two days before attend. This was a real honor. Our guide, who has been working with Christians in China has not had the opportunity to visit such a group in the nine years she has been here.
The classroom was a small 15 x 15 foot room that is at a separate location from where the adults meet. There were large Biblical decorations on the walls, small folding children’s chairs and two small tables. Children of all ages began to file in until every seat was full. The teaching was animated and the children were completely engaged. (Show me more…)
Our passports & visas arrived today just two & 1/2 weeks after sending our pics & documents to Washington DC. We used a service called Travel Document Express. They were super helpful. Definitely would to recommend them to anyone needing a quick turn around on their passport or visas (I understand they are so backed up at the passport office that it can take upwards or four months via the standard route…yikes!).
I had a pretty good idea these weeks would fly by, now I’m feeling it.
