Photos from The Wave

These photos were published in The Wave (Huntington Beach weekly local paper from the Orange County Register)

Final 2 Home Safe

The final two stragglers (me and Judy) made it home from Africa yesterday
afternoon. The drill: basically 24 hours of travel from Nairobi to LA. Whew!
Our first meal back on US soil was a burger and fries from In and Out. A
very nice welcome home!

Not sure if jet lag is still lurking after a good night's sleep. It probably
is, and will hit hard this coming week, especially during one of my first
long meetings at work.

We had an amazing trip overall. God's hand was in it all, and we have been
blessed immensely through the experience. I pray that the work in Uganda,
Tanzania, and Kenya for His Kingdom will be powerful, and I'm so thankful to
have been able to contribute.

Please keep praying for those in the field. On our way home we flew from
Nairobi to London with one of the family members of the SIL branch. She told
us that one of the mission families was betrayed and robbed by their hired
security guard while they were at the conference. The environment these
precious missionaries work in is challenging and difficult. So please
remember to pray for them.

Becky

Reflections on Kenya Missions Trip

God is faithful, all the time.
 
As I reflect on the past month and prepare to return to work on Monday after 32 days off, I am grateful.
 
Grateful to God for this opportunity to serve Him alongside my family and friends.
 
Grateful to Naomi and Amanda for their love and support as we served God together in Kenya.
 
Grateful to Mary Ann and Lauren for their patience and understanding as I struggled to keep up with them in our travels together.
 
Grateful to Sarah, Kyle, Bekah, Becky, Judy, Tim, Joe and Susan for allowing me the privilege to serve the Lord with them in Kenya.
 
Grateful to the many prayer warriors who lifted me and the rest of our team up in prayer during our missions trip to Kenya.
 
Our mission was to care for the children of missionaries serving Wycliffe Bible Translators in Uganda and Tanzania while they attended a conference in Kenya.  We not only lovingly cared for their children, but we equipped them to put on the full armor of God every day.  We did this with scripture memorization, bible stories, songs, crafts, games, skits, and activities to support each piece of armor.  This also reminded each of us that we need to put on the full armor of God every day as well.
 
Mission accomplished!
 
Thank you for following our adventure and praying for us.
 
Blessings,
 
Joe W.

Slideshow of VBS

Here's a short slideshow that was presented to the parents during the kids program.

Group Two Arrived Home

Mary Ann, Lauren, Joe, Naomi & Amanda arrived home safely on Wednesday afternoon.  We are all trying to catch up on lost sleep.  We had a wonderful 3 day safari following the conference at Turtle Bay.  We caught up on our sleep AND got to see many of God’s wonderful creations in their natural habitat!  We also had dinner in the bush – that was a great experience.   Thank you for your prayers for safety.  We know they were answered.  Naomi

Back on US soil

Bekah, Kyle, Tim, Susan and Joe have now made it back to California. In a few minutes we should be at the gate, then it's time to get luggage, go through customs and find our welcoming committee. In a couple days after I get over the jetlag, I'll write up my closing remarks on the trip and it's impact.

Touch of Heaven

I'll admit it. I'm a bit of a primadonna when I travel. Over the past four years I've approached a half million miles in the air - hundreds of flights, many of them long international legs. I rarely sleep on these long flights like the current 24 hours of travel from Nairobi through London to Los Angeles. Kyle slept most of the flight, Susan slept over 5 pretty much uninterupted hours of the flight, and I got a couple hours of catnaps and felt really blessed to have gotten that much.

As a road warrier (I totally relate to the movie Up in the Air), I do get an occasional perk, like access to the British Airways lounge due to my American Airlines status (Over 60 flights last year on American). Today I tried getting Tim, my wife and myself into the lounge so Tim could check email, and my wife and I could get a shower. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way it's one guest only with me, and no substitutions of guests after the first one accompanies me. Other airlines two guests have not been a problem. So Tim checked his email, and Susan didn't get her shower.

The shower had to be one of the best I've ever had, and not just because it was after 9 hours in an airplane. British Airways has the high tech shower with a large overhead nozzle, six adjustable body nozzles, and a handheld nozzle. After God gets us a house of our own again, I hope to have one of these gizmos. It was also nice after two weeks to be able to rinse my toothbrush under running water, and be able to rinse my mouth out under the shower.

Well, time to board for the 11 hour flight to Los Angeles.