On Tuesday, Feb. 26 we began our journey to Chicago only in
time for a snowstorm to hit! My parents, Brad (my brother), as well as Jason’s
family (Jacob’s twin brother) traveled with us to the Comboni House in LaGrange
Park, IL. Lilyanna’s wonderful teacher from St. Louise de Merriliac invited us
to visit one last time before departing. It sure was awesome for Lily to
receive a classroom of love, support and prayers literally hours before our
plane would depart. After several good-byes at the Comboni House, it was time
to head to O’Hare. By this time, the roads were getting really bad and the snow
was coming down hard. We followed Paul, our Program Director. I can’t help but
chuckle because a snowplow guided us from LaGrange Park all the way to O’Hare!
It was like God sent an angle to guide us!
My parents, brother Brad and Paul helped us get our 12
suitcases into the airport. After a very difficult good-bye, we were ready to
go through security. Lilyanna heard an announcement in which Jacob was being
paged. We were bummed to find out the security took out our power converter
from our luggage, saying it was a “mysterious item”. Big bummer as the wattage
in Malawi is different than the states and we really need this item. Oh well,
they could have taken much more than one little item!
The first flight was to London, it was just under 8 hours.
Our plan was the last international flight to depart from O’Hare due to the
snowstorm. Again, another angel! We had 35 hours of travel ahead of us and
spending who knows how much longer in O’Hare would have been very difficult for
all of us, especially our girls. The flight was smooth, the girls did fabulous!
However, Jacob and I didn’t get a wink of sleep and the girls got very little.
By the time we arrived in London, we were exhausted. Our plan was to venture
out into the city and experience London to help break up the trip (we had to
have a 6 hr layover anyway, so we expanded it to 10 hours). It was very cold in
London and everything was extremely expensive. We took the transit to
Buckingham Palace, which was the one thing Lilyanna asked to see. After that,
we decided to head back to the airport for lunch, rest and get ready for the
long flight to Johannesburg, South Africa.
The flight again was smooth! This time the girls slept quite
a bit and Jacob and I were able to get a few hours of sleep ourselves! We hit a
little bump in South Africa, one that we’re still not sure if it really should
have happened but nonetheless, it was only a little bump. We switched airlines and
South African Air demanded we paid for our luggage. This created a huge
headache for Jacob as he had to go back through security multiple times to deal
with the situation. I began to get nervous as he had been gone for 1.5 hours.
Just as the tears began to fall, Lily told me not to be sad but to pray. So I
did, and Jacob walked up less than 5 minutes later with just enough time for us
to catch our connecting flight! The wisdom my 7 year old offered me during my
moment of fear is something I will hold with me forever. Prayer is powerful,
and makes one feel so much better! Its all about remembering that we are
wrapped in God’s comforting touch, no matter how difficult the situation may
be.
We arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule in beautiful
Lilongwe, Malawi. Fr. Dario, the Provincial Comboni Priest was there to greet
us. Somehow he managed to get security to allow him to come into the area in
which we entered the airport. He was the first person we saw as we entered, it
was so welcoming! And then as we gathered our luggage, we found about 10 more
individuals there waiting to greet us! Wow, what a warm, amazing welcoming! 3
of the 4 Comboni’s were there as well as several members of Msamba Parish
Council. I can’t even describe how comforting this was to our family, we
definitely didn’t anticipate this! One piece of luggage was missing however it
was found the next day!!!
We were taken to the Comboni House in Lilongwe to share a
fabulous lunch where our welcoming crew also joined us! Then it was time to
rest. Unfortunately we all endured multiple mosquito bites our first night here
in Malawi, and we’re still praying that none of us will develop Malaria. We are
on an anti-malaria medication but had only taken one dose before being bitten.
So far so good and we’re on day 9 from our first bites.
On Friday, we rested some more at the Comboni House. A
family of Comboni Lay Missionaries who are finishing up their 3-year term met
up with us that evening. They would be staying with us for the next week to
help us get adjusted, find grocery stores and offer all sorts of wonderful
tid-bits on Malawian culture. Andrea, Spence and Seth (McSorely) were another
set of those Angels in which God placed in our path as we began our journey to
Malawi as missionaries.
Saturday morning we were brought to the house which we will
call home for the next 3 years. Fr. Dario and the McSorely’s took us grocery
shopping in Lilongwe. We are so very thankful for this gesture, as you can
imagine we have a lot to learn! Having food and the essentials was very
comforting! Brother Patrick (a Comboni Brother) spent the last month getting
furniture and other household items put in place for our home. He did an
amazing job, we are so thankful for his kindness!
For our first week here, our family shared a bed that was a
little smaller than a queen. The McSorely’s would be staying with us for the
week, the 3 of them shared our two single beds. The good news is, we all were
able to sleep under mosquito nets!
It took us a few days for our bodies to adjust to the 7-hour
time difference as well as the heat, but we’re all feeling adjusted and well
rested now! I have so much more I could write but I want you to keep reading
our blog! I know this is a very long blog-post though at this time our blog is also
our main means of communication with family. Thank you for being patient with
my long entries! Please continue to keep our family in your prayers! Currently
we’re asking for prayers for health, comfort and acceptance into St. John the
Baptist Parish, Msamba (Lilongwe, Malawi).
Much love,
Tonya
No comments:
Post a Comment