Darin's Journal
Friday's send off was tremendous. Thank you friends and family members for sending the 2006 team off in grand fashion. I was especially touched to see several of the 2002, 2004 and 2005 team arrive to send this team to the field. Thank you!As the vans were being loaded I spent a few moments looking around the room at the smiles, the tears, the embraces - even a few 'high fives'. It means so much to the team in the field to know that so much prayer and support accompanies us.
The Lord has shown up numerous times on this journey and we are still a long way from Namibian soil. Our trip began with some real struggles with Delta Airlines (no surprise to me) over the weight of our bags. At its worst, the airline wanted to charge us $10 for every kilo any of our bags were over 17 kilos (my conversions fail me, but I think that's around 35 lbs!). A lot of prayer and some pretty intense conversations and our bags were rolling to the airplane without any extra charges. The same struggles ensued at JFK when the band's equipment was being checked in. Once again, a lot of prayer and a couple hours of moving the equipment and our team from one line to the next, and the gear rolled off to the plane as we had planned.
Many of our team enjoyed some time in Frankfurt today. Right in the middle of a huge World Cup day here, the streets were alive with soccer fans making the visit very memorable for us. A few of the group sampled some German cuisine - the roast pork and sauerkraut was a hit with me (we'll see how it affects those who sit next to me on tonight's flight).
So we're a few hours away from that last flight and our arrival on Namibian soil. Pray for the GO29 tonight. The crew will be very tired when we arrive and we will be forcing them to stay awake for the entire day to help turn our sleep schedules around. This means tempers and attitudes will be stretched. Pray also in thanksgiving that God shows up. He always does - never fails. We're praying for you, our friends and family back home, expecting that He will be showing up for you these next couple of weeks as you share this adventure with us through the blog. We love you.
posted by Darin @ 12:45 PM
