We made it to Johannesburg! We woke up this morning to beautiful warm weather and sunshine which is exactly what Elizabeth needed. Two days before we left she came down with a horrible sinus infection with the corresponding sore throat and fever which always seems to accompany these things. I felt bad for her as she’s had to travel the last couple day’s feeling really sick…yuck!!!

Our trip did get off to a rather comical start. As we were walking down the ramp in Kansas City boarding the plane we were deep in the middle of a conversation. Suddenly, my phone started ringing. What befuddled me was that it was the ring tone for Elizabeth’s phone! I thought surely this must be some sort of technology snafu and signals got crossed. When I answered it no one responded and I soon realized that her phone was dialing me from somewhere deep in her luggage. Since she spends so much time on it, maybe it was feeling alone and neglected and this phantom dialing was some sort of cry for help.

We flew from KC to Detroit on Delta and were supposed to have a couple hours layover so we could walk around and check out the airport. Unfortunately, that never materialized as we were stuck on our plane for an hour and twenty minutes as they couldn’t find a ground crew to move the plane that was sitting in our gate. Finally…someone decided to move us to a different gate but when we arrived the ground crew there had no idea we were coming! The pilot was so frustrated he pulled the plane in without their help, jumped out of the aircraft and started rounding up a crew to help get us deplaned and our baggage unloaded. The stewardess was having a meltdown as 38 people missed their connecting flights due to the airports incompetence. I kept reminding myself that this was good preparation for Africa as often the best laid plans there come unraveled due mechanical breakdown or miscommunication.

Since it was a small plane we had to wait for our carry-on luggage to be brought to the ramp. Once in hand, we made bee-line for our connecting flight. We arrived just in time to board our plane to Amsterdam. Once we found our seats we settled in for the eight hour ride over the ocean. Even though it was night time, I found it hard to sleep as my mind was filled with many thoughts as to what might be in store for us in the days ahead. My heart was crying out for a double portion of God’s grace. It’s important to me that we always leave something of this grace behind wherever we go. I finally dozed off at some point only to be woken up by the announcement that we were soon to land. Once on the ground we again made the mad dash to our KLM flight to Joburg. We arrived at the gate to find that they were boarding immediately and so again didn’t have time to catch our breath.

It was an 11 hour flight to Joburg which seemed particularly long I think due to the fact we had no break between any of our flights. We did manage to get a few hours of sleep but sleeping upright isn’t the same. The best part of the trip was seeing our dear friend Dave Russell’s smiling face waiting for us as we came out of customs. Dave graciously came to the airport to greet us and guide us back to his house where we are staying for the next few days. After a good night sleep we woke up to the sun shining down on us and sense of excitement to what lies ahead. Now off to find a SIM card for my phone and get some money changed.