Hello from the Atlanta airport! We left home at 9 this morning and are hanging out in the Delta Sky Club getting ready for the US World Cup soccer game to start. We have a 6 hour layover here in Atlanta, so I thought I'd go ahead and get started blogging. Lauren is thrilled that we are able to catch the soccer game - our layover coordinated perfectly with the world cup schedule. We are excited about our trip! David arrived in Kenya at 6:30 this morning local time (about 10:30 p.m. Central Time last night). I'm sure he and the rest of his team are catching up on rest, although I know they did visit the orphanage this morning. The biggest need right at the moment for our friends in Kenya is prayer. A few days ago there was a terrible accident involving a school bus. Several lives were lost and Patrick (the orphanage director) has a niece and nephew who were on the bus and who were injured. The latest update is that his niece, Rosemary, suffered facial injuries but will recover. His nephew, Solomon, had major trauma (including the loss of one his ears) and was in ICU the last I heard. His ear reattachment surgery and hospitalization costs have already exceeded $5,000. While that isn't an outrageous amount by our standards, most Kenyans subsist on less than $1,000 a year, so this amount is extraordinary for them. I understand that Solomon won't be released from the hospital until his bill is paid. Please lift Solomon, Rosemary, and their family up in your prayers. If you would like to contribute to help with Solomon's medical expenses, please do so through Global Connections. If you're in the Columbus area, their office is located at Brickerton inside the Brickyard Properties Office Suite. If you're from out of town, the mailing address and contact info are on the website: www.globalconnectionsonline.org. Thanks so much to Anna Puckett who was the first of our team to arrive in Kenya and who has been sending wonderful email updates.
At 9:30 a.m. local time (Sunday), Lauren and I should arrive in Madrid (2:30 a.m. Central Time). We'll spend Sunday and Monday in Madrid, Tuesday and Wednesday in Barcelona, and Thursday back in Madrid before flying to Kenya early Friday morning. This trip is completely in Lauren's hands, so other than airport transfers and accommodations, we have no plan and no schedule. She wanted to stay in a hostal instead of a hotel, so we're doing that (except in Barcelona where we have a hotel on the beach). We also plan to watch world cup soccer in a local establishment - it should be crazy because Spain is apparently playing Tuesday night, and I hear that Spaniards are intense soccer fans. We're looking forward to swimming in the Mediterranean when we go to Barcelona. We actually went to the Mediterranean last year when we were in Egypt and put our feet in the water. It was far too dirty and crowded there, though, to swim.
Some of you know that Lauren is being baptized in a lake in Kenya the first Sunday we are there (July 4). Please keep her in your prayers as she takes this important step in her faith. Please also be praying for health and safety for our entire team during the next four weeks.
My next post should be from Spain... Adios amigos :)
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