South Africa 2010

We made it! 15.5 hrs after leaving Atlanta, we arrived in Johannesburg. Wow, that was a LONG flight. The only super exciting part was JoyAnn’s last minute arrival. After we boarded she called me to say that she was running through the airport toward the gate. The pilot and one of the flight attendants were so kind to us at that point! They insisted that we weren’t leaving until JoyAnn got on! A few minutes later a very winded, relieved mission team member ran onto the place. Hooray!

We’re staying the night in Pretoria and will run back to the airport tomorrow to pick up Beth and Brandon (and JoyAnn’s luggage). Beth texted from the ATL airport to say she and Brandon were both on the plane. Once we pick them up we’ll be off to Mavhusa… a six hour drive with 10 Americans, 4 South Africans, and a ton of luggage in a small van. We’re not going to have to worry about team closeness!

Elizabeth, for the team

Waiting for Beth and Brandon

The van ride!

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The South Africa crew is leaving the ATL airport in a few minutes for Johannesburg. Unfortunately, Beth, JoyAnn, and Brandon all ran into extremely long delays and won’t get on a flight until tomorrow. Housing is all set up for them, though. Just pray that they can ALL get on the ONLY Delta flight to Johannesburg tomorrow.

A last cup of Starbucks. No more to be had for the next 2.5 weeks.

The part of the team that made it for the flight to Johannesburg. Looks like Beth, Brandon, and JoyAnn are going to have to catch the next flight.

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Wi-fi is not exactly an available commodity in the African bush. From the mission base where we will be working to the nearest internet cafe is about a 40 minute drive. While we might decide to visit the cafe from time to time, it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be an everyday trek. Rob and I have been working on other methods of getting online. There IS cell phone reception. We’re hoping that with South Africa SIM cards one of us will be able to get our phone online, with the possibility of tethering one of them to my laptop. Theoretically, it should work… but that’s what my mom calls a “magic should” – it should work but the probability is sketchy at best.

If the internet-via-cell-phone option works, we will try to post fairly frequent blogs. However, not knowing the price for a data connection, we may have to keep pictures to a minimum. If that happens, we’ll post lots of pictures when we get back!

If you do not hear from us for days at a time, DO NOT WORRY! It just means that the internet connection is not working. You can pray that the internet connection works if you want to hear how the team is doing on a daily basis.

Elizabeth, for the South Africa Team

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The South Africa team is in the air on their way to the other side of the world! They will arrive in South Africa on the evening of August 2. Pray for them! They are headed into an intense time of ministry in primitive conditions. Also, pray especially that everyone’s luggage arrives without problem (the team will be working 6 hours outside of Johannesburg and lost luggage would be a huge hassle) and that Brandon gets on the flight (he’s flying stand-by).

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