the countdown is on!

so, i just got an email with the countdown on the days till we are in kenya.... 43 days, just 43 days away :) i guess i better get boogying on getting my shots, eh?! i am such a procrastinator! i will make that call today to get them scheduled. i am hoping to get the least amount of shots as possible. my friend just had over $400 worth of shots for our trip. a big ugh!

i was just gone for a girls weekend away with my sisters and a couple friends and it was only 4 days away. i was tucking shea in that nite i got back and she told me, " you were gone for a long time, mommy... but you will be gone even longer when you go to africa. right mommy?" she was almost about to cry :( that right there is going to be the hard part for me. i know they will be in great hands though while i am gone. victor will be with them as well as his parents. they are coming in from birmingham to help out while victor will be working that week. the kids absolutely love them ( & visa versa, of course!)

we will be having a meeting this week to discuss our big yard sale on june 6th. we are asking our neighbors, friends and family to do some spring cleaning .... any donations will be greatly appreciated!! we are hoping this will be a huge success. if you are reading this... you should come on out for it. it is june 6th at the brandon oaks clubhouse from 7-11 a.m. and then lunch and bounce house afterwards. all profits will be divided amoung the kenya team for our trip.
come on out! let me know too if you have any "junk" you want to get off your hands to donate to our cause :)

my passport arrived today!

i know, it's been a bit since you heard from me.  to be honest, last week was not spent thinking about kenya... a bit of a busy week on the home front.  today, i went out to my mailbox to find my passport :)  now, i am thinking about kenya again!!!

we had our meeting week b4 last with our team... 7 out of the 9 of us were there.  we got to see a more extended version of a video they have on 410's website, so that was nice.  crazy to think we could be in that video 66 days from now.  woo hoo!  we have a great team of us going.  we are actually meeting again this week and hopefully will be getting a bit more info to take home with us to read.  we still do not know exactly what we will be doing and won't until june.  they say that each 410 bridge mission trip will have its own unique schedule of work, events and activities as the needs of the 410 bridge communities vary from village to village.  one thing they do have in common though is building a bridge ~ not in the physical sense~ but a personal one through establishing relationships between our team and the kenyans we will be serving.  

i have been on several missions trips in the past.  the last one was in 1999 to romania.  i went with our local christian radio station, 91.9.  i do remember that flight being long... but not quite sure if it was around 18 hours in the air!!!!  that is what they say our flight will be.  almost a whole day there in the air and on the way back.  airplanes are not my favorite things... especially for that long!!  that could definitely be a prayer request for me.

we have come up with several fundraisers.... 

* our biggest one will be on saturday, june 6th.  we will be holding a huge yard sale... with food.  it will be a church wide missions event.  we have several teams departing this summer so the proceeds will be pooled together and split up.  we have a youth team headed out somewhere's (i say that because it was supposed to be to mexico... but i believe they are in the process of changing that one) and one to india and then ours to kenya.  so, if any of you readers have things you would like to depart with... keep hold on them and i will tell you what you can do with them soon.  ask friends and neighbors for their "junk" too :)  it will all be going to a great cause!!!!  

* we are also selling bruster's coupon books!  for just $10 you get $40 dollars worth of coupons.  just ask me if you would like one or two of them :)  we will also have them at the garage sale.

* photo shoot~  emma (one of my team members) takes family and children's portraits.  if you and your family need some awesome family or individual pictures taken... tell me and i can help you book a photo shoot with emma.  she charges $100~ with a 50/50 cut.  she gets half and i would get half for finding someone as well as helping her during the shoot.  since all of the money will go directly to sponsor us towards africa, it can be made out to Weddington Community Church!!!  

let me know if you can help us out with any of the above fundraisers :)  that would be awesome!

Flight details

Monday nite i got an email with our flight details :) we were thinking we would have to drive to atlanta and fly out of there, but we are blessed that we can leave right out of charlotte. that will be very nice, especially upon our return :) as i was looking at the below times, i must say my eyes started tearing a little bit due to some separation anxiety for my family. i kinda chuckled to myself cause it is still a little over 2 months away! :) i have a feeling there will be tears... many tears.... definitely a prayer request!


DELTA AIR LINES 09JUL CHARLOTTE NC ATLANTA GA 1150A 113P
DL 1737 THURSDAY DOUGLAS HARTSFIELD JAC
U ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING (DOUGLAS) MD-88

DELTA AIR LINES 09JUL ATLANTA GA NAIROBI 410P 525P
DL 34 THURSDAY HARTSFIELD JAC JOMO KENYATTA 10JUL
U ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-200/300

DELTA AIR LINES 17JUL NAIROBI ATLANTA GA 810P 800A
DL 35 FRIDAY JOMO KENYATTA HARTSFIELD JAC 18JUL
U ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-200/300

DELTA AIR LINES 18JUL ATLANTA GA CHARLOTTE NC 950A 1110A
DL 1638 SATURDAY HARTSFIELD JAC DOUGLAS
U ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING (DOUGLAS) MD-88

I am getting excited! This week we have our first team meeting. We have 9 members headed out on July 9th. I will post the details as I get them. I have been so anxious to know more about our trip and what we will be doing. Hopefully, Angie (our pastor's wife and leader of our team) will be able to give us something to nibble on :) I have applied for my passport two weeks ago. My new passport should be headed my way end of next month :) I had applied for my first passport over 17 yrs ago, so it was a bit outdated. Makes me feel old. Part of my excitement is due to the fact that I will get to see and hug and spend some time with our girls, Mercy, Rahab and Gladys. They stayed with us in our home in November while they were here in Weddington ... 3 of the 2008 Daraja Choir members. I will also get to see Denzel, the boy we are sponsoring. He was also with the Daraja Choir. I didn't have to think twice when this opportunity came up. Immediately I knew I was supposed to go. I am leaving the money part up to God to provide!! He has provided in the past and I know he will now. Once I can figure out how to get a ticker on this post, I will add it so you can watch God at work. Well, that is all for now. Emma and I are working on some fundraising ideas. Any from you out there?