Sparky's Africa Update

We took Sparky to the Detroit airport Saturday morning at 7 a.m.

Her flight left for JFK at 10 a.m.

She arrived at JFK right before noon. She was meeting the rest of the team and they were leaving about 4 p.m. and arriving in Ghana at about 3 a.m. our time (11 hour flight).

With the five hour time difference, it was 8 a.m. in the morning there already.

Then there was about a five or six hour bus drive into Togo, counting the border crossing.

See Sparky's suitcase in the forefront of this picture:

It's getting checked in at Detroit. It made it to Ghana. It appears someone stole it off the cart because it didn't make it on the bus to Togo.

We are fortunate that we were told to pack her carry-on suitcase as if her checked bag might not get there, so she has enough clothing to get her by. The ladies are also going to try and get her things washed, which they don't usually do. We also hadn't hidden any of her money or put the copy of her passport in there, so that was good. It was mostly packed with stuffed animals and specific foods the missionaries requested, plus the other half of her skirts and blouses (all her t-shirts were in her carry-on). The bus driver was going back to the airport to see if it could be located.

I know all this because Sparky called me today! She had called on Sunday as soon as she got to Togo. The call was $5 a minute so she basically just said she got there and was safe. We were thankful to know that.

But today she was calling from a computer that was two cents a minute. It was a pretty decent connection too. We talked for about twenty minutes and she is having the time of her life!

Back when I first mentioned that Sparky was going to Togo I had said that no one from our church was going. You might remember that the people sitting at our table the night all this transpired were a lady and her daughter (husband and other three children not present) and then Mr. and Mrs. Missionary.

Well, the husband that was not present decided to sign up for the trip. He had to go on the waiting list, but then a spot opened up. It's the closest thing to having her dad go with her since he's not.

Here the three of them are before they left Detroit, Mr. Churchmember, Sparky, and Mrs. Missionary.

Sparky decided on the way to the airport that they were going to be her adopted parents for the week. She told me on the phone today that she has three moms there! They even had to protect her in the market on Monday.

Caboose had a rough first day and night. He's doing better now. Of course, I'm letting him sleep in my bed since Hubby's gone, so that could be a big contributing factor. Oh, well.