No Extra Charge for Jet Lag -- in Dollars

According to Jay Leno:The economy’s so bad, airlines are now charging $15 for every bag under your eyes.

---

I guess we are going to have more bags this weekend as we head for the States! The very reason we moved over here is to make the travel easier on our bodies. I am amazed at how so many countries are in the same or similar time zone. The first time I noticed it was when we traveled from Sweden, to Bethlehem in Palestine, and then to Addis Abba, Ethiopia. We were on a summer jaunt several years ago, our first time to go to Israel. I was delighted that we were not jet lagging since all of our flites, only 5 hours each, were from north to south and back north again. This way, we are only weary from the travel, and not dogged with the bone wearying addition of time change.

On this past trip, for example, we flew from Joberg to Nairobi in Kenya, which is an hour ahead of us, waited several hours for our lay over, then flew into Kigali, Rwanda, where the time is the same as ours in South Africa. Cool! Because it was an all night flite (from 00:45 to 05:15) we were already tired, but jet lag was not even an issue.

Going from Africa to North America, however, is another story. Flying from East to West is quite the challenge. I have even heard it said that flying from West to East, or East to West (which is it?) one of those ways is supposed to be harder on you. I think, after traveling for many years in many different directions, it is ALL hard on the body. I just read in a book about jet lagging that for every hour difference in the locations of departure and arrival, it takes a day to recuperate. Of course there are ways to combat jet lag so it is not so bad, but the body needs time to adjust to such big changes.

I am the last to complain about travel by plane. It is not easy. You must be on your toes all the time. Even tho' you have done it time and time again, you still have to check all the boxes and make sure you are on the right plane! And I hate it when I leave something behind. But, I am so glad that we are not traveling for weeks by ship, then by ox cart or horse back into the 'interior', as so many of our forerunners have done for the sake of the Gospel. This way we can go be with our families much more often, then quickly return to our work without much delay. We live in marvelous times. As we fly on these African planes, I often think of what our son said to us after he became a pilot: If anything happens to me, just know I was having the time of my life while I was flying and I died happy. We share his sentiments about our work that includes flying to get there and back.

Paying the jet lag price is an occupational obligation.
Bring it on if it means seeing the wonderful faces of our families.

Welcome, Friends

I have just sent out an email, adding many names -- wow -- we have lots of Friends! -- informing many of our Friends of this new blog. God has blessed us so much with relationships all over the world. In fact, more recently, when we pray for our Friends, we now list them as "Asian Friends, African Friends, American Friends, and other Friends all over the world." What would we do without our friends!

These days we are making many more Friends, loving and being loved by people so very different than we are. Yet, our only differences are our color and our cultures. Living here in Africa where most are varying shades of brown or black, I have been particularly careful to NOT be politically incorrect. However, last year when we were traveling with Friends from Uganda, one of them caught me by surprise when he told me he wanted to put me up on the top of the near-by mountain so that all in the valley would have lots of light since I was so bright white!

Learning a few words of greeting and the handshakes of each country has been quite the challenge. For example, we have learned that in Rwanda you first gently clutch one another's upper arms (I thought we were going to be hugged!) then pull back to shake hands. And sometimes, that handshake is first grabbing the hand as we do in the West, then, while continuing to lock thumbs, grab the back of the hand, then back to the standard handshake -- well, standard to us. These simple gestures has opened our hearts, and theirs, earning us many Friends.

Let the Adventures BEGIN!

We have just completed the final trip of our second year traveling from country to country here in Africa. What an adventure. And we are learning so much!

I am delighted to finally set up a blog of my own, and hope it will be of interest to those who check it out, and inform those who are interested in doing missions in Africa. I have much to share. And since our monthly reports are limited, blogging about additional subjects and events will allow me to write more information than what goes just into a report.