Delivery

It's important.

Comedians find that if their delivery isn't good, their jokes aren't as funny.

In baseball, the delivery of a pitch is of utmost importance.

To parents, a safe and healthy delivery of their newborn baby concerns them.

Almost daily we rely on the postal service for delivery of our mail without giving it much thought, until something goes wrong.

The same could be said for luggage.

Remember this suitcase that Sparky checked in Detroit on the way to JFK on the way to the Accra, Ghana, airport in route to Togo. This was the last time we'd seen it.

Until today.

We received a call at about 10:45 last night that we missed. They called again about 6:00 this morning. They delivered the suitcase a little before 11:00 a.m. to our house.

The outside is cracked.

One of the latches is also bent badly.

And the suitcase strap that secured it since you can't lock them is completely missing, as are all her identification tags. Every single one, except for the original tag the Detroit airport put on it that had the numbers that identified the suitcase as Sparky's.

The inside had been messed up quite a bit. The only thing originally on this side were the stuffed animals, her pillow (which was on the other side now), and a bag with water balloons, chocolate chips, and unsweetened Kool-Aid.

This side wasn't messed up quite as badly.

Except that the two jars of peanut butter were missing, along with those chocolate chips I mentioned. The Kool-Aid was untouched.

I think the suitcase made it to Ghana and the food was taken. Hubby thinks it was taken since it was perishable and the airport people didn't know when it would get back to the appropriate person. The airport still can't tell us where they located the bag and if it ever actually made it overseas.

The last time we saw this bag was on February 20th. It was reported missing at JFK on March 1st. Today is April 10th. If this bag could talk it might have a really good story to tell.

Orange, Fuchsia, and a Machete

There were people coming by daily to sell things when Sparky was in Africa. It wasn't random though; it was planned.

At the beginning of the week a lady came by. If they wanted a bag made they were to pick small, medium, or large, and the two-color combination they wanted.

Sparky picked large and my favorite color combo, orange and fuchsia (although blue is my single favorite color).

Matches my Bible like a charm!

Look at all the intricate work.

I wish you could feel this bag. The person or people that make these bags must have very tough, calloused hands or very cut up hands. You know that white plastic rope that is stiff? It's like that but a thousand times stiffer. (Kind of like comparing Elmer's to Super Glue.) Yet it is woven tight like normal string would be woven. I can't even imagine how they do it.

Hubby got a cool gift. It was 'the only thing' Sparky could think of that he would like.

Remember that lady selling machetes in her Togo pictures? That's who she purchased this machete from.

I took a picture of it with my Blackberry so you could see how big it really is.

The kids feel pretty safe in the house now too.

For more Show and Tell Friday, visit Cindy at My Romantic Home (plus she lives in California and it's green there already!).

Precious Children

Sweet children in the classrooms...it's all in French...when you click on the arrow to play the black box goes away too...


The Twenty-third Psalm:


Another classroom:


This is some more video from that classroom.


Mark 9:37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Guest Post — Sparky's Africa Experience

Sparky and I have been discussing for the last week the best way to go about doing her guest post. This last Sunday night, she and Mr. Churchmember spoke and gave their testimony of the trip and shared pictures. Sparky wrote out what she wanted to say (she still gets a little nervous in front of people) and then we typed it out. We decided it was an excellent summary of her trip and it was her version of the trip from her eyes, so we'd just cut and paste it from Word over here. I did change names just for the blog, because of course she didn't use Mr. Churchmember and Mrs. Missionary when she was talking, and I left it in a different font too.

I will tell you the rats they were selling on skewers in the market didn't make it into the story...

First of all, thank you all for your prayers. I really appreciated it.

I had an awesome time while we were there in Africa, and I miss it a lot. Basically each day the ladies got up at 5:00 in the morning to start fixing breakfast, which was then served at 6:00. I set the tables and did dishes a lot of the time — that kind of thing since there were 3 other ladies to do most of the cooking, although I did help with some of the cooking as well.

After breakfast the guys started working and the ladies cleaned off the tables, did the dishes, and set everything out for lunch. Then we’d go in our room to pray, do devotions, rest, take the men like Mr. Churchmember water, and that’s also when we took our showers. While we were there we were only allowed to take 5 minute showers, called missionary showers. All my family completely cracked up when I told them this because they all know that usually a quick shower for me is like 20 minutes.

We would start getting ready for lunch at 11:00 doing everything in the same way as we did at breakfast. Then after cleaning everything up from lunch, we’d have about 2-3 hours to do whatever we liked, or Mrs. Missionary would let me off kitchen duty sometimes so I could participate in extra things. That’s usually when I’d help Mrs. Local Togo Missionary with the kids from nearby who would come for the Bible study and games. Mawilly helped me do things there, and there is a picture of me with him in the slideshow. We’re working in the kitchen pouring lots of cups of Koolaid. Mrs. Local Togo Missionary took me with her to a small market that was different from the big one that the ladies went to earlier in the week. We also visited some kids at the hospital where we were adding on the maternity wing.

One of the last days we were there we went to a school that CWE built last year. It was an hour drive on crazy, bumpy roads which I loved anyway, but I’m not sure everyone else was as enthusiastic about. It makes our dirt roads look really good. We visited four classrooms and got to see the kids and they all sang for us. It was sweet and especially for Mrs. Missionary to see children in the classrooms since she had been there when they completed the school. The pictures you see in the slideshow where children have on pink colored shirts are from the school. There was also a church right next to the school that we got to go into.

For dinner we’d go through the same process as before, and once we were done eating dinner we’d clean off the tables and the guys would put them against the wall so that a devotional area could be set up. Devotions would last at least an hour and were always a special time.

The main focus of the devotions was turning the world upside down. Now how do we turn the world upside down? We’ve got to see people like Christ sees people if we’re going to turn someone’s life upside down. A way we can turn people’s lives upside down is by telling them about the gospel. It dramatically changes people's lives. But for people to even listen to what we’re saying and take it seriously, we need to have credibility and a good reputation. As you all know, a reputation is a person’s character, distinction, what we’re known for. As Christians, we should be known for our walk with God. Our character should be a step above the worlds. God will always be there for us – that’s his reputation. Samson, David, Joseph, Abraham, all had reputations. We all can turn the world upside down by using our reputations. People who live upside down for God stand out. They’ll have all the fruit of the spirit. So we have to be focused and have the right priorities. We need to be disciples, faithfully spending time in God’s Word so that it’ll nurture us. We’ve got to surrender and be willing, pray, fellowship with others, and we’ve got to witness. We have to be and have these things in order to turn the world upside down.

The last full day we were in Togo we had a maternity wing dedication. Now that the women giving birth can be separated from the sick women, the hospital is now culturally correct. The morning we left Togo there were already babies being born in the maternity wing.

It was amazing to see the cultural differences. Like here we have dogs and cats for pets—there the local missionary family had not only dogs, but a monkey and scorpion for pets as well. One of the boys actually caught the scorpion using a pair of flip flops. I thought the fact that they could keep those as pets was pretty cool. My mom and dad won’t even let me have a non-poisonous snake as a pet. Go figure. Practically all the ladies carried some type of bowl or bin on their heads filled with all types of different items. The women and girls carried babies on their backs by wrapping some cloth around their waist. It was all interesting to experience.

I also got to learn some lessons that I might not have otherwise. I learned how to live without my suitcase while overseas since my suitcase never showed up. Luckily there was enough in my carry-on to get me by. At one of the customs stops there was a toilet that wouldn’t flush normally. I learned how to flush it by using a bucket of water, so now I know what to do if the power ever goes out. For one of the first times in my life I realized that being short isn’t always bad. On the plane I was the only one who could lean over and use the food tray to sleep on.

I was also shown how very fortunate I am and how much I take for granted here. Some of the kids didn’t have shoes or a whole pair of clothes to wear; and when we’d hand out things, for example, they might get one piece of candy and they’d act like you just handed them some treasure. The ladies who worked in the guest house behind us would go through our trash we’d put out and scrape off all the plates and bowls to reuse them, and maybe even eat the leftover food as well.

On the trip, God confirmed the call that I’ve felt to Africa. My favorite part was when I got to interact some with the children. I now feel as though I’m supposed to do something with children there. I can’t wait to go back there (hopefully next year for a month with Mrs. Missionary). It was such a wonderful experience for me and I will remember it always.

Sparky's Togo Pictures

They stopped at a gas station on the way from Accra, Ghana, to Togo and this was a market across the street.

The hospital waiting room.

A lady giving her baby a bath outside the hospital.

The market the ladies went to early in the week is at the end of this street.

This man made shovels.

This lady sold machetes.

This lizard jumped and made all the ladies scream. Then the local kids laughed and pointed at them!

Where they stayed.

The missionary family's pet monkey.

And scorpion!

These are mangos. Sparky knows I love them, so she thought I'd love seeing them. I did!

This is the lady who made her special dress (which I will share on Friday) while wearing her baby.

Don't you just love the iron?!

Fixing a flat — see how they are lifting the car.

A beautiful view.

They allowed Sparky some time off from the kitchen to work with the children. She adored it, and she adored the children. Notice some of them are also wearing the smaller children.

These are the four ladies (girls?) that were on the trip.

The new maternity wing.

A termite hill.

The only reason Sparky wanted to come home was because she missed us.

She wants to go back next year for a month.

We think she's found her country.

WFMW — Travel Tip

I'm too lazy to go back in my archives and search for the other button, but WFMW is actually being hosted by Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer for the next two weeks while Kristen is in Kenya with Compassion.

Which is on the tail end of Sparky getting back from Togo.

Which brings me to my WFMW tip.

Pack your carry-on like you will never see your checked luggage!

Especially if you are going overseas.

Sparky's checked suitcase did not make it to Togo.

Mr. Churchmember's checked suitcase did not make it back to New York.

Amidst canceled flights from New York to Detroit, the airline booking Sparky on a separate flight than Mr. Churchmember and Mrs. Missionary (with a plane and terminal change at Dulles in only 50 minutes, which they did not let her do and made the airline put her on the same flight as them), Mrs. Missionary said to the counter person in New York,

"This is the only bag we have left to check. One didn't make it to Ghana, one didn't make it back from Ghana (they drive from Ghana into Togo). Do you think you can get this one to Detroit?"

We packed one of Sparky's towels, all her washclothes, her passport copy, all her undies, all her t-shirts, three of her skirts, two of her blouses, her fitted sheet, her light blanket, feminine personal items, half her soap products, her extra sunscreen, and all her socks in her carry-on.

She had one sunscreen, her hat, all her medicines (prescription and over-the-counter), her compact (the only make-up she wears), a small bottle of contact solution and a case, an extra pair of contacts, hand sanitizer, sunglasses, snacks, a journal, and her Bible in a backpack as her personal item that she put under the seat.

People asked her who packed her carry-on because they were impressed that she could function well with what she had. Mr. Churchmember's wife had given me the advice to do it that way or I wouldn't have had a clue. We were all impressed at the maturity shown by a 16-year-old who was missing a suitcase.

Which still hasn't shown up.

Africa pictures coming in a little while!

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.

We're Busy At Our House

Packing...


Somebody is leaving the country tomorrow.

Six

That's how many shots it's taking for Sparky to go to Togo.

Three per arm.

Sparky rolled her eyes when I pulled the camera out of my purse.

Hubby did something akin to that. He just said I should ask first.

The nurse told me it was fine and commented about wanting to chronicle her trip. So I asked what I thought was the obvious question and would justify what I was doing to Hubby.

"Don't other people take pictures?"

Nurse Ann said, "Well, I've had (pause) one other person that's taken pictures."

At least I'm not the only one.