Let me start at the beginning...
Last night the ladies and I got together for dinner at Fazolies to catch up a little. We were tickled to find out that our trip director - Ellen - and Lonnie from FAME - were able to join us! It was all planned last minute on Tuesday - with 3 busy women and then Lonnie and Ellen to be able to join us - was simply a God thing.
My work was having a pitch-in today and I had to go to Sam's Club last night to get the food. Since the ladies and I were meeting on the west side I did the click and pick (or whatever it is called) so that Sam's club had everything ready for me when I got there. That is an AWESOME feature!
It was so nice to put faces with names at dinner. I had my camera in my purse but completely forgot to get pictures! DOH!
We asked questions and got a lot of great answers. Here are a few of them:
How many are going on the trip: 9
That number is less than what they are used to going, so we will have to be flexible when it comes to running the clinics.
When will we get our itinerary?
Probably within the next two weeks.
How many suitcases can we take?
2 to check and one carry on. One of our checked bags is for over the counter medicine we collect to leave at the clinics - the other is for clothes. Limit of 50 lbs per bag.
What to pack:
Lonnie suggest 5 outfits or so - we can hand wash our clothes. This saves on packing space. Make sure we have a pair of comfy shoes for clinic days and a skirt and nice top for church on Sunday. I still intend to leave my clothes behind to donate.
What in the world are the 3 heavy duty trash bags for? This was my question! =)
For trash! =) We need to keep our clinics clutter and trash free! They also make great poncho's!
What do we do in the evenings?
We will have morning and nightly devotions - each one of us is responsible for at least one. The admitted we'd probably be pretty tired in the evenings. It was recommended that we bring card game or something like that - Lonnie suggested Phase 10! I love that game so I signed up to bring it!!
Where will we be staying?
We will be staying in a guest house of our hosts - Keith and Kathy Ham. It'll probably be two per room. Electricity is probably a yes - but only as dependable as it is for the rest of the country. Same with running water.
How do we carry everything with us and keep it safe?
Ellen loves fannie packs, Lonnie hates them. =) They said whatever we need to keep our personal stuff secure and on us. I will probably get a fannie pack and a lanyard that has a pocket for my passport - that way it I can wear it under my shirt and have it on me at all times. No expensive jewelry was stressed. Keep your camera out of sight while in the Mathare Valley and the wrist band secure around our wrist anytime we use it. Don't set anything down - make sure it is secure someplace (like a fannie pack).
Let's see - we went through a typical day would be like at clinic. We talked about personal safety as well as food/water safety. We talked about always staying together. We talked about shots and shared stories. We are waiting on a few more answers to our questions from the Ham's...I'll share those as we get answers!
Now - to digest some of that.
Specifically one - the suitcase of medicine. We are all required to collect over the counter medicine for the clinics. That is 50 lbs. Wow. Lori mentioned how she had been collecting it and getting ready.
My heart sunk.
I've already spent house money on my shots. I've collected the amount needed for my trip from friends, family and co-workers. How in the world was I going to get this part done?
Sometime, we just need a little faith.
Today was the cookout at work. We do them once or twice a year among other things (ice cream socials and pitch-ins and stuff.) Just something nice to do for staff. I am usually involved in the planning and buying (mostly because we have a Sam's club membership) and helping and setting up. And I admit - I LOVE this kind of stuff. We also do multiple fundraisers throughout the year - we raise money with bake sales and chili cook-offs and even do jeans day. We get to wear jeans to work and we pay $2.00 to wear jeans and an additional $1.00 to wear tennis shoes. The money we raise is used for different funds - Christmas families we adopt, Missions, Julian Center, Make a Wish....the list goes on and on. One of the reasons why I love where I work. Today was a jeans day! We have been doing jeans days to raise money to buys cans for CANstrcution (the cans are later donated to Gleaner's Food Bank) - build day is tomorrow so one more jeans day to help offset that cost!
Today we were setting up for the cookout and one of the ladies in Interiors volunteered to help coordinate set up and stuff like that. She had it all under control and basically chased me out of the conference room. Right before the cookout I went to make sure everything was ready and I was told it was and to go make an all staff page that the cookout was running about 5 minutes behind. We asked everyone to start in the lobby, go out the front doors and outside around to the grill and then back into the conference room.
Everyone piled into the lobby, but Katie, my boss, was holding them up at the front doors. I asked, and she said the cooks needed a few more minutes to get the hot dogs done so people weren't waiting on hot dogs.
Next thing I know, she turns to me and says, "this cookout is about you Tricia. We wanted to show you support for you and your mission trip" (my this time I am starting to cry and shake) - "outside is a suitcase with medicine and stuff for you to take on your trip" - (this is where speechless comes in). I was floored. I had NO IDEA! How 85 people kept this quiet for 3 weeks is beyond me. I like to think I have a pulse on things in the office but I had no idea on this one! I was told I had to be first to eat (which was the last thing I wanted to do) so I head outside and this is what I see:
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| Suitcase Outside |
So everyone lined up behind me to eat:
And they decorated the conference room too! These items are actually from Africa!!
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| African Print |
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| See everyone standing in line outside? =) |
Everyone ate:
And we had animal crackers for dessert! That made me giggle!
I can't tell you how shocked I was. I am still speechless. Here is the stuff that was collected:
and...did you see all those people wearing jeans?
Go back...take a look...
yea...you are thinking correctly...
All those people who wore jeans today?
They weren't wearing them for CANsruction...
They were wearing them to support my trip...
To help raise funds to purchase the rest of the medicine for my trip - to fill my suitcase.
So me and my surprise planners:
Are going to go shopping...
medicine shopping.
Yup!
How much you ask?
I'm still speechless you know....
$300.00 worth!!!
That is going to be more fun than ANY shopping I've ever done before!
God has a funny way of showing Himself when you least expect it! Time and time again He has proven His hand is on this trip. EVERY time I have had doubts or questions or thoughts of how things are going to work out, He has shown me Who He is.
As I type this my spirit is convicted yet again. I doubt, I question, I struggle. I need to remember Who is in control and to remember to have a little faith!
To those that were involved today...Thank you. For the surprise...for the support. For the encouragement. For allowing God to use you to show Himself to me yet again. I said before I don't believe in coincidence. I believe in Godincidence. I truly believe that God had the dinner last night and the cookout today well planned in advance...it's all in His time. I can't thank everyone enough - but know that I will not let you down on this trip.
Thank you, thank you...thank you!
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