WALSH PRAYER UPDATES
14 July 2007Dear Family and Friends,
We are happy to report that we and the Johnsons made it to Burkina Faso at around 5pm local time on Friday (1PM on the east coast). It was in the mid 90’s and very humid. The trip went as well as could be expected for traveling with little kids. Two of our carry-ons were taken from us at the gate in Philly and checked all the way through which was a huge blessing because it would have been impossible to haul all of them though the airport in Paris. Both boys did really well. There were moments when they were bored and restless, but they were able to get some sleep. There were only a few small delays along the way. We were only missing one bag (should arrive today) and we got straight through customs without them looking in any of our bags. We, including Thomas, were able to sleep in this morning. Then we had a great rain that cooled things down, so the heat hasn’t been too bad yet. Thank you so much for all your prayers.
Our biggest news of interest is that it appears that the Amazing Race teams and crew were on our plane from Paris to Burkina. We have no clue what they could find interesting to do in Burkina but we noticed the flight was very full and it turns out that there were 40-50 people on the plane associated with the production. We were sitting in Paris waiting to board and we kept seeing guys with really big video cameras, running up and then turning around to get video of two people coming towards them. We talked with a couple of people who said that they couldn’t say who they were with but they didn’t deny it either. There is a chance that we are in the background of several shots at the Paris airport or on the plane. Also, the SIM missionary from Ouaga who met us at the airport was definitely on camera giving directions to a team (Tim? & Don) who we had met and helped on the plane. Anyway, I think they are shooting for the fall or the spring and they said that they were in the middle of the race. If anyone could record it for us, that would be great. I’m sure there would be some interesting things about Burkina and you might get to see a little bit of our airport and what it’s like to arrive here. Several of the teams were not quite dressed appropriately to handle the heat or the cultural requirements, so it will be interesting to see what they do (there was a goth team and the guy was wearing white face paint!).
We will be here for a week or so purchasing supplies, buying a vehicle, sitting in meetings, etc. After that we will head down to Mahadaga. We’ll probably be making the 8hr trip back to Ouaga sometime in the next month or so to restock and pick up larger stuff once we’ve seen what we’ll need. We are enjoying having a slow weekend to relax and get acclimated to the heat and time change and language. We are invited out for our first few meals by various missionaries here while we get settled in. The team here is very helpful. We’ll be going to a local French church on Sunday, and then we’ll start taking care of business on Monday. It still feels a little surreal to be here and to talk with other missionaries as “colleagues” instead of short-termers who are going to be gone in a few weeks.
Please continue to pray for:
- The transition for the boys (Thomas & Caleb) and their sleeping patterns.
- Wisdom in purchasing a used vehicle. It can be difficult finding a good quality used vehicle.
- Help picking up the local french accent and our ability to communicate in general
- The ability to prioritize what needs to be done and for patience as things can happen slowly.
We are already missing all of you but we are very excited to be here!
Matt, Julie & Thomas
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