January 1st -- Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!!

I've just got confirmation that the group has arrived in Kenya and they are loving it. God is leading this trip in a way that will be unexplainable, and with our constant prayers their experiences will be all the more of a reflection our God and his people. Thank you everyone for praying and may the group be kept safe while touching the hearts of the Kenyan people.

Joe (April's Husband)

Flexibility is the name of the game...

Well...

If you've been following this blog you have surely heard us talk about flexibility.

Today the Bloomington team arrived at Central Illinois Regional Airport around 8:30am to catch our 10:13am flight. Well...take a look at the time stamp on this post and you will note that I am NOT on the flight. Incredibly, with the power of Apple Technology I am on I-74 using my MacBook Pro and iPhone to update the blog.

The flight from Bloomington to Detroit was overbooked. So they explained that we could drive from Bloomington to Indianapolis, catch a flight in Indy to Detroit. Now the Bloomington team will land in Detroit 5 min. after the Minneapolis team will leave Detroit for Amsterdam. This means that Bloomington team will not meet up with the Minneapolis team until we arrive in Amsterdam. We should all be on the same flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi.

So here is the Bloomington Teams old schedule:

Bloomington t0 Detroit (catch up with April and Kristi)

Detroit to Amsterdam

Amsterdam to Nairobi

Here is the new Schedule:

DRIVE from Bloomington to Indianapolis

FLY from Indianapolis to Detroit (arrive 5 minutes after April and Kristi)

Fly from Detroit to Amsterdam (meet with April and Kristi there)

Fly from Amsterdam to Nairobi (on the originally scheduled flight)

BUT...

The best part about the re-route is that everyone on the Bloomington team received a $300 voucher for the inconvenience. That's $1200 in savings for the Bloomington team!!!

We really appreciate your prayers!

From I-74...

Chad

And Away We Go!!!

Well Team...this is it. God has provided the support for us to go, He has provided all of the provisions that we will need to put on a medical clinic, open the orphanage, build a new building and do all of the other work that He has called us to do. PRAISE GOD! The time has finally come!

I received an email from our travel agent explaining that everything is confirmed and all flights are still on schedule. Please check the web and your itinerary for any last minute changes.

Tonight, the Bloomington Team will have our packing party and final review (...and technically our first meeting) :) Then we board the plane at 10am on Monday morning. If all goes well we will catch up with Kristi and April in Detroit and then...across the pond we go. :)

This morning was a rough church service me...my fiance joked about me PMS'ing. As my senior pastor was recalling some of the wonderful things that have happened at our church in the past year, I just started weeping. Then we had a baptism, and baptisms choke me up anyway so I wept some more. :) By the end of the service I was thinking about all of the things that my pastor didn't mention and all of the things that he probably wasn't even aware of that God was doing...like every baptism that has taken place in Mitumba. It was a blessing to be able to worship God through tears. We have been called to an incredible task...a task that many people are afraid to accept. I am honored to be able to share in this with each one of you.

Be blessed, be safe, and let's begin the journey of a lifetime! :)

Chad

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Crew-
I hope everyone is warm, nestled with family and friends.
Just a couple of days and then we will get to meet and greet one another.
I hope everyone got what they wanted, and gave others even more!

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for us along this journey. Please don't stop!
Thank you to my MN Crew for having such wonderful hearts and helping to collect money and belongings for us to take, they have not gone unnoticed.
Thank you to everyone for getting us this far!
See you all soon.
Keep the Faith-
April

One week to go/packing party details!!!

OK everyone, by the time you read this we will officially have 1 week to go!!! Dec 29th is just around the corner!

Here are the latest updates. I met with Kristi Stice today to make the 4 suitcase hand-off for the Minn. group. Between April and Kristi they will be taking 200 lbs of shoes, medical supplies, and school supplies between 4 suitcases. I also had a chance to go through everything we have to take and we're going to need to do some prioritizing. There's no way we can take everything; not even if everyone from the Bloomington crew takes 3 suitcases (and we will be taking 3 suitcases each)!

I also have packets with all trip details ready for everyone too. April, you will get yours when you meet up with Kristi. Make sure you get it, as it has our passport and visa app in it. Everyone else will get their packets during the packing party...that's right, we're having a packing party! 

The Bloomington team will have a packing party at:

9 Ridgewood Terrace, Bloomington IL, 61701 (My house) on Sunday night (the 28th).

We will meet at my place around 5pm. I will order some pizza for everyone, we'll sort and weigh our luggage and review the final details.

Kristi and April, you're on your own as far as a packing party goes.

If you have any questions, please let me know soon!!

Kristi and April, I'll see you in Detroit next Monday. Everyone else, I'll see you at my place next Sunday around 5pm.

Take care everyone and God bless!

Chad

News Flash

Everyone-
He may hate me, or delete this so no one is able to read it.....But.....
Chad and Foxy Roxy just got engaged :)
Congrats!!!

Visas

I meant to post this last week. After I received everything from everyone for the visas I called the embassy in Washington DC to make sure they could still process our visas and get them back to us in time for our departure and they said because of Christmas we wouldn't get our visas back until December 26 or 27. That is too close for us. So we will not have the visa stamped in our passports before we leave, we will need to get that in the airport when we arrive.

The first time I went to Kenya we did it this way and it only took an extra 20 minutes. We typically try to get this taken care of ahead of time so we are guaranteed visas and so we don't have to worry about it when we arrive. But it's no problem to get our stamps in the airport. That's what we'll be doing in Cairo also.

I will keep Amy, Jim, and Kims Passports and photos with me until we depart. April and Kristi, if I can meet with Kristi (to hand off shoes) before she heads up north then I will just give everything to Kristi. So that way you are both good to go.

Again, this is not a problem. I've done it this way before and it's very easy to do. But typically, if we can get the stamps before we leave we like to try to do that so we don't have to worry about it after 22 hours of traveling.

Take Care Everyone!!

Chad

16 Days and Counting

Hey Everyone-
Are we all as excited as I am right now?
I hope and pray so. I pray that everyone is feeling peace about this trip. That everyone is healthy physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I pray for us as a group, that we as strangers will find peace with one another during this life changing trip. May we get along like we have been friends for years. May there be days of laughter, comfort, and strength, and the ability and desire to all get along in a land we are unfamiliar with. I pray we will stick together as a family of 6 on this trip. I pray for our family and friends, that they will have peace about us going on foreign soil, that they will put us and the residents of Mitumba Slum in their prayers daily now and while we are away. I pray for our flights, that they are as smooth as possible, that customs will be our friend and not an enemy after our long flights. Let us be embraced by the people of Kenya. I pray that our eyes will be opened to the Will of God! I pray for you Chad, for you Amy, for you Kristi, for you Kim, for you Jim, and for myself.
The Visas have been shipped off, along with every one's pictures! My pictures are pretty bad, I don't know about the rest of yours.
The hotel in CAIRO has officially been booked, along with our rides to and from the airport. We will be waking up in the morning and walking to the pyramids, we are that close to the Pyramids of Giza, and the Sphinx.
Keep in mind when packing to pack light, go through the check list, check it twice, and we will see who has been naughty or nice :p Do not over pack! I will admit I have a problem doing this myself. No curling irons, hair dryers, ironing boards, stiletto heals, none of that!!! Amy and I were going to concoct a plan on how to bring our irons...it was a no go though :(
I am packing a ton of scrubs to wear, and yes Chad, I have some for you too! They are light weight, easy to clean, and great to wear on the days we have the clinic work. Kristi is thinking about cutting some into shorts.... I will bring a couple of "normal" outfits to wear on the days we are out and about.
Take care my new friends....
Keep the Faith-
April