I'M IN AFRICA!!!!

Praise God, my visa WAS missent from DC and ended up returning there last Friday and sitting until with the help of the Hillsboro post office manager, I called and got them to literally RUN it downstairs to catch the truck AS IT WAS PULLING AWAY to load the last air express mail to St. Louis on TUESDAY. They arranged for it to go to the post office by the airport, so Wed morning I dropped by before 9am and picked up my passport and visa in time to get to the airport for my 11am international flight!!!! (Thank God no Daryl-esqe midnight drive to DC, though Mom was game! :)

Tuesday was the most "pressed but not crushed" day I've had in eons. The whole reason the post office gave for it not arriving in St. Louis successfully last Friday was $2.30 short on postage. Seemed weird bc they had said it was $17.50 to overnight it back so that was prepaid. When I finally picked it up in St. L, the lady at the counter said, nope, she doesn't know why they have it written I need $2.30 more because the $17.50 was plenty!!!!!!! So my conclusion was this was all about testing me to see how I stood up under stress! Thank you for so many of you who were warring in the spirit with me on this one. I gave a high sigh of relief when I was finally sitting on the plane.

The flights over were delightfully uneventful and we even got to South Africa one hour early. I sat next to a young woman from Memphis who was going to South Africa on a mission trip! We had wonderfully encouraging "God conversation". There were other church groups all around me on the plane. The family of God is everywhere! There was another girl across the aisle originally from St. Louis who recognized me from volleyball in high school! She went to Tower Grove High School! Small world.

Early night in tonight in Johannesburg, South Africa. I'm staying at a backpacker hostel near the airport and I fly out to Pemba, MZ, early tomorrow!!!! I'm looking forward to sleeping!!! Only 1 hour of sleep and a few restless cat naps on the plane for the past 2 nights. It's a little chilly here in the evening. I forget how far south we are. But the heat should greet me tomorrow in Pemba!

Love you all and thank you again for praying!