New things

I now have a new, used, car.  We got a Mitsubishi Montero Sport.  I really enjoy driving a big car again.  We just hope everything is ok with it.  It was a craigslist car and you can only know so much without driving it for a while.  It has the check engine light on so I am taking it in tomorrow.  It will probably need some new tires as well, but we have to do one thing at a time. 

We have found the house we want and are currently processing everything.  It takes forever because the government has to give us the money to do everything.  We have all the papers signed and just have to go to housing to have them give us the new money.  The house is awesome we were over there today and realized there is a papaya tree, mango tree, breadfruit tree, citrus tree,  and avocado tree.  On top of all of those amazing trees the yard is amazing and has so many beautiful things growing in it.  The inside is very nice.  It has 4 bedrooms and a nice sized living room.  The kitchen is great, except the lack of dishwasher.  There are 2 bathrooms inside and a half bath outside.  The outside bathroom is cool, because bbq's are the thing here.  We have a great side porch with cover and lots of space for such great events as bbq's.  I will get you more pics once we have the keys and are moving in. 

Last night we had the opportunity to go out to eat with a friend Greg knew.  He brought his family along with us and they were spectacular.  The wife was so friendly and the 3 girls were adorable.  I got to hold the baby while I ate and she fell asleep on my lap.  When we went to leave the other 2 girls grabbed my hands and we walked out together.  It was really fun and we can't wait to spend time with them again. 

Today after church we went out to lunch with another couple from church.  It was a lot of fun.  They have been here for several years and they took us to an awesome restaurant called the "Sunset Grill." It had some awesome pizzas that they make on the grill.  Ours had a avocado and shrimp with a garlic oil base.  It was delicious.  We talked about what each of us did.  Then we talked about some cool places to visit while here and just got a helpful view of the island.

After our great lunch we went to NEX to get some snorkeling gear.  We were so excited to go, but we had to wait a few hours, because of signing paper work for the house.  When we finally got to the beach it was closed.  So we went back to the beach on base and snorkeled.  It is really fun and you should see the gorgeous fish in the ocean.  God made a whole other amazing world under the sea.  If you ever have the chance you should try it. 

It was a big day and I just wanted to keep you all informed.  It has been fantastic here and we are really enjoying ourselves. 

New Islanders

It has been a while since I have updated this.  I think we are finally over the jet lag but who really knows.  We were waking up around 4am the first few nights and taking naps around 4pm until bed time.  We no longer need those naps, we do still go to bed early between 9 and 10pm.

Greg spent most of last weekend doing in processing.  I don't think that is done, but we have a doctor and a place to stay so those are good things.  He is going to see the doctor this morning his smashed finger nail doesn't seem quite right it is not attached in the back anymore but looks weird in the front.  While he is there he will also be asking about his ear which has not popped since our plane ride here.

I have spent most of my time learning about where things are on base and volunteering at the local animal shelter (G.A.I.N. Guam Animals In Need).  I have also learned to drive stick much more smoothly.  We got Greg's car the 3rd day we were here and he lets me use it during the day.  The first day we had it I had told him I felt like I should practice on my own so he said to drop him off and practice.  It is kinda fun once you get it.  The commissary and the BX are interesting places here.  The commissary has everything frozen for its journey here so checking bread sometimes ends up in wet cold hands.  The BX seems bigger here than at Andrews, but I don't know if there is a home traditions. 

Driftwood down from the beach on base

House hunting has been interesting we have been working with Martin who is a retired Marine.  He knows all the ins and outs and takes us to the houses.  Finding the houses here is not that easy.  Road signs do not mean a whole lot and sometimes roads turn into side dirt roads that are not labeled at all.  Greg keeps calling Guam a 1st world country with 3rd world charm.  You will drive down the main road and see some shops and then see some jungle then what can only be described as a Burkina stand ( I have yet to get a good pic of this, but when I do it will be up).  Anyway side note on the traveling to and from houses.  We looked at houses from the center of the island the whole way north which is where base is.  It is hard to decide where to live because you hear things like well crime is there, but this is so far, and traffic is so terrible.  We decided we should probably live closer so that it will be easy to work out and go shopping on base.  So we have mostly been looking in the Yigo area.  It is actually pronounced Gigo.  We will look at 3 more houses today and then we need to make a decision.

Our Beach on Base

A second car needs to be bought so that I can get around the island when Greg is at work.  We looked at a rockin' truck yesterday.  It was a '90 Toyota Hilux.  It has a 3in lift, some serious off roading tires, and a nice stereo system all for $3000.  You ask well why didn't you buy it.  Well it was definitely a boonie truck and it was very rusted and certain things in the truck worked and didn't.  It would have passed inspection, because here they just check the important stuff like brakes and lights.  Greg couldn't see us buying that one.  I think that with the price range we have we won't find much nicer than that with 4 wheel drive.  We shall see if we change our minds and want it we can ask if it is still around.  The wife of the guy who was selling the truck is a nurse on Andersen so Greg will probably run into her at work when she gets back from leave.  It would be easy enough to find out about the truck that way.

Church on Sunday was great.  We went to Christ's Bible Fellowship, which is located center of the island,  we were warmly greeted by all sorts of people of different ages.  We were invited to their outreach concert that night in the park with Jamie Jamgochian (famous for being a part of Modest is Hottest).  It was cool it poured at one point and that is how I met Lani.  She shared her umbrella with us and we got to talking.  She has all sorts of connections, because they have lived on the island for 16 years with her family.  It was nice to get connected.  I can't wait to go back again this Sunday and meet more people.

Prayer Requests:

• Our focus on God
• House hunting
• Car buying
• Good, new relationships to form

WE MADE IT!!!

All of our planes were running on time and we made every connection without a problem.  On top of that in Tokyo they called us to the desk to give us seats closer to the front with more leg room and so we could sit next to each other.  (As a side note to that I thought of Joani and dericious, because the lady greeted me and said hello Mrs. Rathbury.)  When we arrived at the Guam airport we got all of our bags and made our way through customs without any problems.  On the other side 3 people from Greg's new flight (I think flight is the right grouping) they gave us leis and greeted us.  The first person I was introduced to was named Michelle.  I looked at her and said I can remember that that is my sister's name.  She said I think I will remember yours because my sister's name is Beth.  Hahaha!  They packed our bags into one of the cars and took us to the inn on base.  This is when it became more fun.

We arrived at the check in at the inn.  We had a house on base reserved for the first 30 days.  We went in and they looked us up and had booked someone else in that house.  But one computer said there were people in it and another didn't.  So we took a drive to see if there was anyone there.  There was.  We went back and the guy called every hotel on the island to see if they at least had something for the night.  Everything was full.  We were getting bored and were watching the tv in the lobby that had the Fast and Furious and decided to get the computers out.  At this point the guy decided to go drive and see if it looked like any of the houses were available.  So like a creeper the man walked around the house didn't see any lights and finally went in.  Turns out that house was available.  We were able to go to the house.  At 2am we finally got to go to bed.  (Reminder we are 14 hours ahead of you here). 

I have not gone on my walk yet but just looking out the window here at the house I can see a gorgeous view of trees and in the far distance the ocean.  I am excited about looking at houses and finding a good house, hopefully with a nice view and plenty of room for visitors.  I am excited to be here and cannot wait to see how things turn out. 

Prayer Requests

• Find a good church
• get adjusted to the time change
• make friends

Maybe today

We have been sitting in the USO for about an hour now.  We got here around 8am and got all checked in. It feels much smoother than yesterday.  We had no problems with the bags being checked in, although we did have to ask about the Tuareg sword because it sticks out of the bag.  They said it would be fine so we shall see.  We did come to find that since I am on the orders as well we could have had a total of 8 bags, but when we asked yesterday we were frustrated and did not clarify so it is what it is we still checked 5 bags.  We know for the next time.  Although I am just not sure how one carries around 4 bags each plus a carry on. 

I have noticed that my stomach has been upset for the last few days.  I think it must be a nervous thing, because it comes and goes and feels different than the normal upset stomach.  For those of you who know me I don't get too nervous or excited about things so this is a new feeling for me. 

Our flight is now as follows we depart at 11:51am to Minneapolis, from there to Tokyo, and from there finally Guam.  We do not have a whole lot of down time in between so I will try to update you as we have time. 

Prayer Requests:

• safety during travel
• bags all arrive
• we make our connections
• we embrace the culture in Guam and shine our light

Heading out or so we thought

I started my day out around 6:30am so we could meet Greg at the airport by 10am.  We got about half way to DC when Greg called and said they changed the flight to 2pm.  Ok we just agreed to meet up and hang out.  About the time we found a place to pull off and meet Greg called again and they had changed the flight to 4:20pm.  We decided to go for lunch at this point and Greg couldn't find the place we had pulled off.  So we met at Hard Times Cafe in Old Town.  We had a fabulous lunch and then went directly to the airport to try to resolve the missing flights and connections problem.  We arrived and waited in line, after parking in 2 separate garages and having to find each other, to find out what to do next.  The lady told us we had to use the check in kiosk.  We checked and all of our connections were the same and we would have missed them all.  So we went and waited in another line.  We waited there while an older gentleman and his family argued that he should get 2 free bags that are checked.  After about 15 minutes of this there was some sort of resolution and it was our turn.  The man at the counter checked everything and the earliest flight he could get us was for tomorrow at 11:51am.  So we told him we wanted to be put up in a hotel.  He said he could at least get us a discount and we argued a little bit with him.  He did get us a free hotel stay.  He told us it was the Hilton airport hotel.  How we were supposed to know where that was I don't know, but the first try we ended up in Old Town.  That was not the right one they told us it was Crystal City.  So as we drove to Crystal City we made a wrong turn and ended up back at the airport.  We took a 20 minute detour and finally arrived.  My Mom and Dad were there for all of this.  They brought me down this morning and they were waiting to take my care home with them.  They were very patient even though driving around down here can make you crazy.  Greg was fairly calm through the whole thing as well.  I believe I would have felt more pressure and not have been as easy going as I usually am.  So I am grateful for everyone involved and the way it worked out.  All this to say we are at the Hilton now resting and enjoying the time we finally have together. 

Back from Burkina

I did not do a whole lot of journaling when we were in Burkina.  I have several names written down, but not much on what we did each day.  I realized when we got back that because I did not journal when I tell people what all we did it is in order of importance to me.  So as I share some of these stories and illustrate how God works they will not be in chronological order, but in order of importance to me. 

Our Team

We left in the afternoon hoping to be allowed into a Tuareg Refugee camp.  We were invited the day before by the church at the L.A.C. We took an offering to purchase sugar and tea, (which are a staple of the Tuaregs) so we would be able to show Christ's light through the act of sharing.  As we arrived and carefully made our way out of the vans.  The missionary men from our group and the local Pastor named Agabus walked over and met with the head men of the Taureg refugee camp.  While they were meeting we all stood around quiet just taking everything in.  We did not know if pictures were allowed so we waited to hear from our leaders.  Slowly children and women came out of their tents.  They came up to us and greeted us.  One little guy named Amadou came up to me and said "comment tu t'appelle" I was confused at first even though I knew exactly what he had asked me.  So I slowly put out my hand shook his and said "Je m'appelle Elizabeth" (for those of you wondering why I said Elizabeth.  My name does not translate into anything nice.  If you say Beth it means stupid.) He then brought over some more of his friends to say hello and no sooner had I looked down at them and back up and we were surrounded by people who were meeting and greeting us.  We began to let our guard down.  Not long after our the missionaries came over and told us we were allowed to stay and take pictures, but asked that only a few of us take pictures.  We congregated under a hangar where we took the tea and sugar.  They asked our guys to remove their shoes and sit with the men.  The leader then gave a speech thanking us for our gesture. 
Here is a link to the video http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=637331061583 
We then proceeded to hand out 5 sets of tea and sugar.  We were welcomed into the tents to give the gift. 

(The thing to remember is that this was during Ramadan so they could not eat or drink what was given to them until later.)
Once everything was handed out they invited us to play with the kids and look at the items they had made.  They asked us to move into the shade so the kids would not get too dehydrated.  We played and bought some of their homemade items.  The really cool thing was the people wanted us to take pictures and they did everything to help us get good pictures and feel comfortable.  It was a real God moment just being there sharing with these people.  While we were hanging out they took Pete one of our Missionaries and dressed him as a Taureg.

We went in not knowing what to expect they only thing we knew is prayer was the only way in.  God provided us with this awesome opportunity to be the first Christians welcomed into this Taureg Refugee Camp. 

Another high and low point all at the same time was passing out grain to the local village.  We did this through Grain of Hope 58:10.  Charlie's team purchased a few bags of grain and invited us to help hand it out.  When the bags of grain were purchased the Pastor at the L.A.C. went to the village leader and asked him to give out tickets to the 30 neediest families in his village.  These people with tickets would receive 2 buckets of grain to take home with them. 

We were set up to have a person take the ticket and the bag for the grain and it would then be filled with the 2 buckets of grain.  It was then given back to the person to take home with them.  When we were through with the tickets the girls who were up front switched with the guys.  At that point there was some grain left and the Pastor would tell the people who did not have tickets whether they would get some grain.  (The grain distribution is to be done in secret to minimize the amount of people who will beg for food who have not been chosen as the neediest.) 

The guys had to form a barrier holding hands with each other and standing as close as they could so that those women who were fighting to get in and get some grain would not get in unless Pastor Agabus said so. 

It was a truly challenging experience.  It was amazing to give out grain to those who need it, but humbling to see how much grain means to the rest of the people who were not chosen.  They would fight and push to try to be the one to get grain.  We cannot truly understand how much it means to be in need of food to keep your family alive.

There were so many different experiences that we had I cannot sit here and write about them all.  These were 2 of the most intense experiences.  I will gladly fill you in on more as time goes on, but this is a lot for one day. 

Here are 2 things you can pray for:

• Sali is a muslim kitchen worker at the team center in Burkina.  We had the opportunity to pray for her.  She asked that we would pray she finds Jesus and that her kids would do the same.  She said she needs a change.  We also prayed for her existing heart condition.  
• Suzanne the kitchen worker who runs the kitchen has been having ulcer pains in her stomach.  Pray that those would go away.