Up Up and away!

I'll admit it, I am a bit nervous.  Air travel in general hasn't proven stellar performance ratings over the past weeks so that's a little on my mind.  We're spending over 19 hours in the air in a metal tube going 900KM per hour, a good chunk of that over the ocean.  Ok....I'm not helping myself.  Air travel is still generally considered to be the safest mode of transport. 

We're flying Alaska airlines which makes no sense to me.  What right do they have to fly outside Alaska? Are they trained to fly outside Alaska? I've made a mental note to ask the pilot for some credentials en route to my seat.  "Excuse me Captain Puddlejumper, there's a jolly rotund gentleman
outside asking to see some sort of license".  Oh that's going to go over well.....I suppose I best just hush and maybe I'll get an extra pack of garlic flavoured pretzel sticks. (Now there's a novel idea, let's give 300+ people garlic, starch and salt on a 9 hour trip). Who thinks of these things? Would you fly KLM to the Netherlands if each passenger was given a small bag of droppies? Enough said....roll down the window please.

I've used the word WE several times in reference to my two travel companions. I'm not flying alone, so to have two very capable compadres alongside will serve me well.  Dear readers, say hello to Andria Lengkeek, my fellow Mission Aid board member, and Marion my wife of almost 20 years.  Between the two of them I trust I'll hit the right gates, stand in the right lines, and not wander into the women's restroom. I don't need looking after 24/7 but a little guidance helps. Andria is familiar with this gig, she's gone before so knows what to expect. She's also thorough and detailed so will act as "scribe" during the business stuff. That's a good thing, because, #1 I can't write, and #2 I can't remember what I had for breakfast the same morning.  This however, is the first time for Marion. I'm looking forward to seeing Brazil again through her eyes. I can't wait to see her reaction when "Armadillo" shows up on the menu at the Boersema/Lins residence, or her first encounter with a foam toilet seat. (More on that later).

Our trip does have a purpose. We're not here for a vacation, (although I will demand some beach time).  We have a packed itinerary, and hope to visit with our Mission Aid families, witness the work that is being done, participate in general mission activities, and continue to plan for future work.  I'll flesh some of that out in future posts. Exciting work, during an exciting time! We pray the Lord grant travel mercy and bless our time amongst our Brazilian brothers and sisters.


We're anticipating brother Chris Boersema to pick us up early in the morning at the Recife airport.  It's an overnight flight so I expect we'll all be a little grumpy and tired.  Mission Board has generously loaned us their "Doblo" for transport during the trip. Doblo is a funny name for a vehicle. It reminds me of some kind of kids toy, like Duplo, or Lego. But who am I to judge, when in North America we had the Omni and the Vega, (I've driven both). However, if it's built for Brazilian roads then its gotta be stronger than a tank. 

That's it for now readers, see ya on the other side of the equator.