I made it to South Africa today, got in around 7 am local time.  I was pretty out of it when I arrived, two 11 hour flights and a 6 hour layover will do that. I wrote in my journal along the way and wanted to share parts of the journey with you…
 
 
(With the team here in South Africa, at dinner tonight)

 
London, 7 am body clock, 3:30 pm London time
.  “Whoa it’s been a long night and I feel the almost routine sense of travel disorientation.  I’m sitting in the airport right now, drinking a Starbucks.  I gave in to the $7.00 latte for comfort purposes.  I got a regular latte not the skinny kind for the first time in months.  Good stuff.  Sometimes you just don’t feel like messing around.
 
“It does feel good to stretch my legs out.  When I got off the plane I took a brain test, for entrainment purposes only, it said.  It was supposed to tell how old your brain is.  The best is 20 years old.  Well I’m proud to announce that my brain is 80 years old.  I would like to thank a lot of things for my amazing brain agility.  First, Dramamine – the miracle travel drug, which didn’t make me sleep on the plane last night but at least made me not care as much that I wasn’t sleeping.  Second I would like to thank two nights in a row of less then 4 hours to sleep each.”
 
Some where over Africa 3 or 4 am local time, 4 or 5 pm body clock.  “Yesterday I posted for my team to be thinking about what their expectations of the trip are and if or how God might want them to surrender those.  I realized that I need to surrender the expectations I put on my self.  I want to lead well, to love people, to throw my self into ministry.  But honestly the expectation of me performing needs to go out the window.  If anything it’s not at all about my performance, it’s about God’s grace, it’s about God choosing to work through me….
 
“It’s odd to be suspended between two worlds, separated, cut off from everyone.  I keep thinking I hear my cell phone, but obviously it’s out of service, switched off in my bag.  It’s weird to think that I’ve been gone for a day.  I keep counting back the hours wondering what everyone is up to right now.  I just realized that at home my friends are finishing up Fill-a-Belly, it’s odd not to be there.”
 

South Africa 10:30 pm local time, 12:30 pm body clock.  Oops, broke the cardinal rule of jet lag today and fell asleep.  I was planning on resting my head for about an hour, hah, yeah right.  4 hours later I woke up to the call that it was time to go pick up the team.  I arrived about 8 hours before everyone else this morning and thankfully got to check into the B and B we are staying at early.
 
It was so fun for me when the team finally got here.  Tonight we got a chance to meet together and talk.  I love them!!!  It’s amazing to see how God has brought us all here together, for this time.  I’m excited to see what happens during our next week together.
 
Tomorrow we leave at 9 am for the drive to Swaziland (I think it’s 5 or 6 hours.)  I’m stoked to be back there soon, but am trying not to get too excited because I have to attempt sleep.  I don’t know how much I’ll be able to update from Swazi, last time I was there we only got internet about once a week. 
 
Prayer Requests!!!
 
Please keep the prayers for my teammates and I coming.  Pray that I will be able to connect with some of the same people and that we will be able to plug in quickly.  Also, pray for creative ways to help make the Nsoko care point sustainable.  We are hoping to set up a project that will generate enough eggs to get the kids at the care points protein in their diets.  The junior high students at NCCC are actually going to do a walk-a-thon, to support it!  I’m pretty stoked about that!
 
Thanks for the prayers, comments, encouragement, support, etc!  Love you all!