I made it!

 

My first flight started a little late, but there wasn't a lot of turbulence. The movies and TV did not work on the plane so basically I had to sleep the whole time… good thing was I had my little section to myself. When I got to Jo-burg and went looking for the man from the Lilypad, I ended up looking and waiting in the wrong area. I did not see him when I came out of the arrivals area and thought I had to wait outside (because that is what the handbook says). Well things have changed at the airport and they can no longer park and wait outside. They have to be inside in the designated waiting area with a sign. I totally missed the guy and ended up making him wait for like 40 minutes. I felt really bad that I made him wait, but was very glad that he stayed.

I was going to try and get on Skype at the BnB, but my internet didn't work until the morning. Got to the Air Botswana check-in and I had a little more luggage than I was allowed to take and the lady said that I would have to pay extra. She ended up not charging me, which was really nice. When I was walking around the airport, I think I saw 3 of the players from the Brazilian soccer team Palermios. It was pretty cool to see a professional athlete up close. It was funny because I had just watched a game of them playing on the TV at the Lilypad that morning.

The flight to Kasane was a little delayed and had to wait for my ride a little bit, but it's all good. When we went through Chobe National Park we saw 3 elephants and a pack of warthogs. We also saw a bunch of monkeys in a tree near the Zambize River. On the way to the village Travis, Niko, and Johannes had to patch up some parts of the road where the river was starting to flow through. I also got to go on the really bumpy ride to drop-off and pick-up staff. I got to meet more of the kids, but kind of forgot most of their names. The younger ones still remember to call me "Billy the Goat".

It has been a crazy 3 days, but an awesome 3. I just thank God for watching over me. I do miss the wifey too and a lot of the people here do too. This post was a little late, but I will try and post a little more often. J

Getting ready to go!

Hey everyone, it's Billy. Just wanted to get the posts started. I am up in Maryland right now getting ready to leave on Monday. All my bags are packed and I am ready to go except for the gum that I need to buy. (because someone named "Sarah" stole all of mine...) This is going to be my first time traveling internationally alone, so please pray for me! I am excited to leave for Africa and sad at the same time because I am going to miss my wife and baby-to-be.

Well I guess I will try to post again when I get to Jo-burg, so over and out.

Billy

requests from Africa....

We've emailed Travis and Lorna to see if there is anything Billy could bring to the Children's Home with him that they couldn't get there and here is the list:

*Epson 78 ink cartridges PLUS BLACK! (you will see the 78 series doesn’t have black in it)
*a large bottle of saline solution for contacts as well as a bottle of contact cleaner (Complete multipurpose cleaner) that would be GREAT!! We cannot find contact lens anything here.

As for the kids:
*glue (not glue sticks),
*colored paper
*funny or inspirational DVD’s (these do NOT have to be new)
*if you can get donations to buy some scientific calculators that would be awesome
*odd request but they need metal compasses for math (maybe 4 or 5)
*if you can donations of clothes the children are in need of some
*another odd request – spoons (eating spoons) there are very few at the children’s home

We plan on getting some of this stuff but cannot afford it all. If anyone has any of these items they no longer need or would like to make a donation, please contact Billy or I. Thanks :)

My first decision as a parent...

I've been meaning to post for awhile now, but things just kept popping up and I kept forgetting. Today, I decided that I needed to sit down and post something since Africa has been on my mind so much these past couple of days, and today especially.

I woke up this morning, realizing that it was the first of March, and the first thing that came to my mind (besides the month) was that I've spent the past two March's in Africa. My next thought was to wake Billy so he could go get his immunizations taken care of. Then a sad thought crossed my mind....Billy would be getting his shots by himself, for a trip he will be going on by himself (insert sadness here).

For anyone who doesn't know (where have you been?!) I'm pregnant! It's been really exciting and besides the morning sickness and SERIOUS aversion to chicken, the only other bad thing about being pregnant is that it makes my trip to Africa more dangerous. After much research about malaria and pregnancy, I found out that it's pretty risky. Turns out mosquitoes love pregnant woman more than non-pregnant woman! And forget about taking medicine to help prevent malaria...I may not have a baby because of it. So long story short, I've decided not to go.

[cut back to emo Sarah ;)] Billy decided that he will still go and I am so excited for him! He leaves Monday, March 28th and returns Thursday, April 14th. I'm hoping that he will love it as much as I did and that God will open his heart to future mission trips...with me AND the baby :)

So I will end this post by saying goodbye. Goodbye for the next month anyway. Billy will be using use my blog to post updates while he is over there, so keep checking our page!