Journey ahead....

The map (which is clearly not in English, but is colorful and fun) indicates our route over the next nine days. On August 30th, we set out from Denver in a rental car. Along the way we will visit Jason's grandma and take some time to rest before we jump into the moving picture.

On September 5th, we will fly out of Dulles Airport bound for Dakar, Senegal. It is an 8-hour flight (not bad at ALL, huh?!) directly from DC to Dakar. Dakar, Senegal is a very big hub of activity and industry on the West Coast of Africa. It is an hour-long flight from there directly to Bissau City, but the flight costs about $600-$800 per person and a taxi costs a few hundred dollars total for us and Sheba and our luggage. It becomes a financial no-brainer. We will travel for two days by car to go from Dakar, Senegal to Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. We'll go through three countries: Senegal, The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. The first day of travel by car will be in what's called a sept place. It's a seven-seater car that we can rent along with a driver who will take us halfway. Our first night in Africa will be spent in Ziguinchor (zig-in-shore), Senegal on the border. The border closes at 7pm, so we will stay in a hotel in a compound in Zig that night and we'll wait until morning to cross. The most exciting part of this jurney is where we get to meet our friends, the Atkins!!! They'll be waiting for us in Ziguinchor so we can travel with them the following day.

Finally, we will reach Bissau and will get to see our friends there. Jason will meet his first Guinean EVER on the 7th of September and we'll begin our process of entering the world of Guinea-Bissau and learning their culture and working with the church there.

**Please pray for safe travels for us and for non-eventfulness in the journey! Pray for wisdom and alertness and safe arrival of us and our bags.

Cars and trucks and SUVs! Oh my!

New Mexico, Arizona, more New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Colorado. Those are the states we'll have been in by the end of this week! We're counting down days, just a little over a month until we leave for Africa! This road trip has been wonderful! We've seen and spent time with so many amazing people and realize that we're SO very blessed! We're learning that God knows exactly what we need and it's a beautiful thing!

We decided to count the number of trucks vs. cars in Texas as we drove a stretch from Midland to San Angelo today and we got a little carried away, but here's what we saw!

Cars: 59

Pickup Trucks: 136

Semi Trucks: 40

SUVs: 84 (many of these looked like modified pickup trucks, but we counted them as SUVs)

Whataburgers: 6

Historical Landmarks: 7

Roadkill: eeewww.

Tumbleweeds: 1

Texas Flags: 3

USA Flags: 5

Country Music Radio Stations in any given place: about 50% of the stations available (yes, this means I am in heaven, and Jason is resigned to his fate)

Speaking of transportation, when we arrive in Bissau, we'll be using bicycles and taxis for transportation. Taxis aren't like they are here, you don't call them, but they drive in a constant circuit. There are more taxis than personally-owned vehicles. You just go stand on the road and wait (usually much less than a minute) and a taxi comes by. You hold up your fingers for the number of people you want to put in the taxi and a taxi with room in it will stop. THEN, you negotiate the price. The government sets the prices, but people still love to see if they can get more, and sometimes they drive off without letting you in. Most of the time, it works out just fine and you get wherever you're going for a dollar or so.

We've also learned that Texas, New Mexico and Arizona don't have the same kinds of problems with bears that we do in Colorado. It totally shocks us to see trash cans in the middle of nowhere that look perfectly accessible to a bear. We're so used to having to be smarter than the average bear just to throw things away. It seems so weird!

We also had a powerful time in prayer a few days ago as we were just spending time together and talking. We began discussing how we were feeling about leaving and the entire process. I was talking to Jason about how I feel scared of so many things sometimes. I get scared that something will happen to him, or to family or friends while we're away, etc. As we were talking, (and I was crying) Jason began to pray against fear. It reminded me of my first night in Africa. I didn't sleep for about three nights. Every sound was unfamiliar, the smells were strange and the night was SO dark. It wasn't until my third morning of waking up more tired than I went to bed that I realized that I was dealing with fear. It can cripple me so completely. I like to plan and have things well within my control, and it's both good and very hard for me to be out of control of my own life. That morning, I sat in my bed and prayed against fear in my life. I prayed for peace and for protection from fear. For the rest of my six months in Africa, I slept incredibly well. I fell asleep immediately, I woke refreshed. It didn't matter if there were women wailing outside, or bullfrogs so loud you literally had trouble hearing people talk, or if I was covered in mosquito bites, or even if someone was banging around on the roof above my head (which did happen!). I slept and I was rested. It just showed me how real God was in my life and how much He wants to be involved in each part of my day, even to go so far as protecting my sleep.

I know from first hand experience what fear can do in my life and I was so thankful to have Jason there with my this time to recognize it and pray for me. We are thankful that we can write you and ask for prayer any time. And we'll probably write you a lot in our first month there!

A few new things have developed in regard to our settling in for Bissau as well. The pastor at the church found us an apartment that we will live in for 3 months and then we can decide to either stay longer in that apartment or find somewhere else. The important things we know about the house is that it has a wall around it (good for safety) and has a toilet. That's what we need! They wanted to make sure I had a chance to make decisions about where I live. Also, we've arranged to exchange writing lessons and some TOEFL books with a friend in Bissau for him teaching us Kriol. I have lost a lot of what I knew in Kriol, and Jason will need to start at the beginning. He knows his greetings, but so far that's all. (Though I must say, he's very good at greeting people for someone who's never been there)

On the road again...

I am writing this blog from the car. We're in Santa Fe, NM at the moment. We are on day #2 of our road trip to visit friends, family and supporters! New Mexico is beautiful with its red dirt and dramatic landscape.

We camped last night in Villanueva State Park. It was stunning and peaceful. We left the rainfly off of the tent and just fell asleep listening to the crickets and looking at the stars. It is very different from the snappy chill of nights in Colorado, and yet so peaceful and calm.

Life often seems to run very non-stop for us, and we love the pace. Keeping up is a challenge and rewarding. Then, every once on a while, we take a breath and pause, and that's what it was like to camp and relax last night. I'm beginning to learn that there are times to stop doing things. Times to just enjoy, and of course, times to be ridiculously busy. It's good to experience both. Sometimes, God has to almost hit me over the head with restful times. I can be so determined to accomplish things that I don't stop. This was one of those times. We were driving along and had no idea where we were going to camp (and like I said in the last blog, I LOVE to plan, so it was a little irksome to me not to know where we were going to end up for the evening). Saw a sign and had no idea it would be a place we could go and recharge.

Things are also beginning to fall in place. I am now married to the most technologically savvy man I could imagine. We also just got our visas finalized and got them emailed to us. It's amazing in this day and age, no more mailing your passport, you can send it in email. We've also been told that a place to live has been found for us. It'll take us through our first three months in Bissau. Pastor Bobo wanted to make sure that I would be able to choose a place I felt comfortable once we were there, so this temporary housing is part of the picture! While we're on the road, Jason is beginning to work on building a website for MAFI Church, as well. Soon, we'll be able to show you what they're all about on the internet.

The best part of leaving is to look back and see our journey up to this point. We have spent many years with Guinea-Bissau on the horizon in one way or another. Years ago when we met the missionaries who started the Youth Center, we were in Golden, CO and Guinea-Bissau jumped right onto our radar there. Our goals and plans have changed, but the country has remained the same. We've been amazed and excited to watch our plans morph as we've gone along.

I got an email today through the website from someone who has recently been in Bissau and plans to return at the soonest possible time because the country has just seeped into part of who they are. It does that. It is a place with so much need, so much beauty, and so much pain all right next to each other. And you take each day in stride knowing all parts will factor into your day. So, we hope sincerely that you'll come visit. Bring friends even! :) There's no shortage of things to be done. From teaching to building to preaching, we'll find the right place for you! Just be careful, if you spend time there, you might just want to go back.

We are so excited and blessed to have so many wonderful people who are praying for us and supporting us. It's wonderful to get to go visit each of you and spend some time with you before we leave. From here, we go to Albuquerque, NM tonight. We'd like to thank all of you, also for being so conveniently located fairly near each other. It makes things like this so much easier. :) Love you all! Look for more posts from the road as we go. Check out the video below!