The Week prior opposition.

 

If I think back to all of my past mission trips, it is not uncommon that the week before departure has been plagued with trouble; things you simply cannot plan for and always catch you off guard. We have undergone immigration complications, obscure traffic violations, flight complications, weather anomaly; name the thing you may not anticipate, and it feels like we have had some experience with it.

In this new world of pestilence, there seems to be an obvious curveball that is being thrown at our Rwanda team, COVID. Should anyone have COVID before the flight, that person will have added complication. They won’t be allowed on an airplane, for good reason. Our team has been dancing around people getting COVID and have been praying that we would be kept safe from this unless God wants to use it in his incomprehensible fashion. Some of our team has contracted COVID. As we approach our departure date, we all must be tested negative. Will they be tested negative in time to get on the flight? We are certainly praying for this. We've had petty arguments, high stress, even a front tooth falling out. 

We've arrived at our departure date and made our way to the Sea-Tac Airport. We spent the night in a hotel 5 minutes away. Delta granted each team member 3 check-in bags each, and coordinating getting them checked in and verifying they are all less than 50 lbs. proved to be our first challenge. Our team made it through all the security checkpoints for our departing flight; all of our forgotten items that are prohibited were purged from our bags. I was pulled aside and watched a TSA person rifle through by backpack to reveal in one of those easily forgotten pockets; a healthy handful of 9mm bullets. Like a deer in headlights; I had to explain why they were there and when finished, skulked away, and logged the moment away in my heart. Whoops!!

Off we go to Amsterdam and then onto Kigali!

Ramping up for Rwanda Trip

 We have been a few years without traveling adventure, though we are currently ramping up to take another adventure together for the Kingdom!! Stella has been working with a charity called "Apple of His Eye Charity" (AHEC), affectionately referred to by us as "Aww Heck". She has been given responsibility for coordinating mission trips, and leading small teams to India and to Rwanda, which is currently where this charity works.

This year, a trip has been planned for Rwanda, and guess who gets to go? Stella! I've also been asked to go, which was an easy yes for me as well. Stella will be the team coordinator and I will be helping with video and photography for interviews. Ive also been told that I will be preaching. Not so used to being the one who preaches, so please be praying with me that the Lord will give me the words to speak, and anything that comes from me alone falls on deaf ears. From what I read online, there are some lofty restrictions in Rwanda right now surrounding COVID, so be praying that the Lord makes a way.

Our team leaves on February 1st, so we've got January left to prep for it. Our team is 14 strong at the moment. We will be working with locals to visit families in the community, identify people that need help and doing what we can for them, training people with skills such as welding, sewing, and cooking, helping the local church in any way we can, and of course sharing the gospel as we go. 

It is a new world with new restrictions and precautions, so navigating these new obstacles will no doubt be filled with surprises, and stories to tell when we come back. There is an astounding number of COVID tests (7) which each team member will be taking for this trip. Each test is an added expense that we did not originally anticipate. As the COVID requirements go up, our original price for the trip gets more and more inadequate. 

As we prepare, Stella has been working hard having team meetings, and raising funding. She had an incredible idea for funding, She and I are selling 5 course Italian Dinners! We go into your kitchen, prepare caprese, fresh pasta with her mother's ragu, cotolette with fire roasted peppers, cesar salad, and tiramisu for dessert! We take care of the dishes and leave the kitchen clean! We even leave the left-overs. This gives us opportunity to spend time with the donors that are making our trip possible and tell them all they want to know about the trip.