It took us, “P – Squad”, 170 hours to get from Bucharest, Romania to Nkhota Kota, Malawi, Africa. It took more than an entire week! We flew from Bucharest, Romania to Istanbul, Turkey to Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Johannesburg, South Africa. That is 3 continents/ 4 Countries all in ONE day! God – Glory, Praise, and Honor be to you! Thank you Lord for bringing me so far and through so much. Here is a rundown of our travels:
DAY 1 – Saturday, October 30, 2010 – Noon; We leave the house in Bucharest and head to the airport. We get on our plane and fly to Istanbul. We then get on a connecting flight and fly to Dubai (Dubai has a huge airport by the way! It is so nice and large that the clocks on the wall are Rolex. Just sayin) Ok so we connect from Dubai and fly to Johannesburg, South Africa. We arrived at 10:45 a.m. on Sunday, October 31, 2010.
Day 2 – Sunday, October 31, 2010 – We finally get a bus from the airport that took us to a hostel where we waited for a bus to come get us to take us to Malawi.
Day 3 – Monday, November 1, 2010 – We were waiting for the bus to show up and it was expected to be there at 2:00 p.m. IT NEVER CAME!! So we stayed another night in the hostel.
Day 4/5 – Tuesday, November 2, 2010 – The bus finally came and picked us up from the hostel at 6:00 p.m. On the right side of the bus was a row of seats for 3 and on the left were seats for 2. The seats were made to fill maximum capacity, not comfort. I know it could have been much MUCH worse but, we were shoulder to shoulder for the entire bus ride. We drove all night.
Day 5 – Wednesday, November 3, 2010 – We made it to the Zimbabwe border at 2:30 a.m. We waited in line to get our visa’s for 6 hours!!! We literally watched the sun come up. We finally left the border around 8:30 a.m. That night we had the pleasure of sleeping on the bus. 66 people crammed upright in a bus seat, in hot Africa at the border of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Never have I ever sat on a cushioned seat so long that it began to feel like I was sitting on concrete. We were on the bus that night for 10 hours. We hadn’t showered in 2 days going on 3. The only thing that got me through the night was prayer and worship (in my head) all night to God. Thank you God for getting me through it with a Spirit of Thanksgiving.
Day 5/6 – Thursday, November 4, 2010 – We got off the bus at 5:00 a.m. at the border in Zimbabwe. We then proceeded to the Mozabique border to get our visa’s. We were at the border for 7 and a half hours!!! During our wait we had a praise and worship time to get us through it. The leaders were getting a hard time from the border officials and we were in a time crunch to make it to the next border before it closed so needless to say that stress was running high. After an hour, maybe, of praise and worship we started to thank God for all that He has done for us. It was literally minutes later that we got our passports. Praise God!! We made it to the Malawi border, but it was closed. We stayed the night at the border for night number two! (The guys decided to sleep outside so the girls could have room to lay down on the bus. We slept in the luggage compartments, under the bus, and under a tractor-trailer that was parked right beside us. We slept on cardboard or straight on the concrete. We took shifts of 3 guys patrolling around the bus every hour until the sun came up. It was quite some night to say the least)
Day 6/7 – Friday, November 5, 2010 – WE MADE IT TO MALAWI!! We arrived in Zomba around 3:30 p.m. We stayed the night there to get some rest.
Day 7 – Saturday, November 6, 2010 – My team (Team MOR3) and Team Prodigal headed to Nkota Kota where we will be for ministry. We finally arrived and met all of our contacts and pastors.
* Wow!! The most exhuasting travel I have ever been on. God taught me so much through it all. 1) Be thankful in all things and circumstances, 2) Community (real-close community), 3) Patience, 4) Endurance, and 5) To have a lifestyle of prayer (pray without ceasing).
** Through it all I had more peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches that I thought was even possible. At the Mozambique/Malawi border I traded an England, David Beckam soccer jersey that I got in Romania for an AC Milan jersey. I wasn’t even thinking of how dirty the shirt could have been because moments after the guy walked off, you could still smell his African B.O. It was on me! LOL Gotta love it!
Thank You God for teaching me so many things and bringing me closer to my brothers and sisters. Thank You Supporters for all you prayers! They really got me through it! Thank You for all your financial support! I am almost fully funded!!!!
