blog

She's Back in the U.S. of A.!

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 19:46:08 +0100

Lauriana called us this morning from Dulles Airport (Washington D.C.) where the Malawi team was making a connection to Orlando. She only got to talk about 3 minutes, but she was excited and emotional. She said she couldn't wait to see us (of course) that the trip was AWESOME!!! and that she wanted pizza, milk and oreos to eat when she got home. I've read other team reports where they says what they are looking forward to most is flush toilets and hot showers. Most, if not all, the teams have been in pretty rustic conditions, camping out, washing clothes (and themselves) in a bucket and using latrines.

By the time I publish this, she will have landed in Orlando unless there's a flight delay. I think she was scheduled to land at 2:20 p.m. today, then ride the bus to Merritt Island, FL which is about 60 miles east of Orlando on the Space Coast, as it's called, for debrief. Then she comes home to Tulsa Wednesday! We can't wait. I think we may be having pizza for dinner Wednesday night.

Back in States Saturday!

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:55:02 +0100

I called TeenMissions HQ yesterday because we weren't sure when Lauriana and her team were scheduled to return to the US. I looked and looked on the website, then called, and they said that information wasn't on the website, but that the team was scheduled to land in Orlando tomorrow, Saturday (07AUG2010) at about 2:20 p.m. What we already knew is that she would be flying home Wednesday, August 11, arriving at Tulsa International Airport at 4:55 p.m.

My guess is that they are already en route, but who knows where they are right now. Their route from Orlando to Malawi included a connection in DC at Dulles, then refueling in Rome (alas, no time for tours), then an overnight layover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopa. From there, they flew directly (I think) to Lilongwe, Malawi. So maybe their flight home will be similar. Looking at the Facebook site for the group (TMI Malawi Footwashing 10015), some of the parents are saying that the group is en route, going to "Lubumbashi and are currently en route from Lubumbashi to Addis Ababa." That was two hours ago.

Preparing to Return

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:19:26 +0100

Right about now, I figure Lauriana and her team are preparing to return to the states, wrapping up their work in the last village. She returns to Orlando August 6. Here's the latest report from the TeenMissions site. Read and enjoy! And send those letters to her Florida address now! Thanks for your letters and your prayers!

Going to Mangochi then Dedza

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:23:46 +0100

A new report was just posted this morning. Here it is:

---START REPORT---- Mathew went to move the other teen team [Lauriana's team] on Monday from Benga II, Wellman Family Orphan Rescue Unit to Mangochi, Heart of Faith Orphan Rescue Unit. They did not have a chance to go to an Internet place to write a report. They are in the bush still and NOT going anywhere near civilization soon. From Mangochi they are going straight to the hills of Dedza. They finished their project at Wellman Family Orphan Rescue Unit. They finished the playground that had different things like slide, swings and hanging things. When the team was leaving there was already about 30 kids on it playing and enjoying it. But they don’t dare to slide on the slide yet, so the facilitators are going to dig a bit at the end of it and fill it up with sand to make it a softer landing. The team said when they arrived to us how much they enjoyed being with the Wellman kids and how good friendships they made over the past week. It is amazing how much those kids have changed during the last 5 years since the Unit arrived to their village. They got so much nicer to each other and to the visitors too. ---END REPORT---

For those of you writing to Lauriana, send all letters now to the Florida address where she'll arrive August 7 and depart August 11 for home. She REALLY appreciates getting letter, notes, cards, and anything else from her family and friends. Of course, keep praying for her and the team.

Send Those Letters Soon & News!

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:53:05 +0100

Just a reminder to all you who are following along here that Friday July 23 should be the last day you mail a letter to Lauriana in Malawi because it takes at least 2 weeks to get there and they're leaving to come back to Orlando August 7 (I think), so after this Friday, write to the Orlando address that is on the home page of this site. She really likes the letters, so let's swamp her with them to encourage her and let her know we are thinking of her!

A new Malawi Foot Washing team report is here. Here's an excerpt.

"We’ve made it! Thank you, Jesus! We are at our first village of Benga. We had a 2 hour bumpy, dusty, truck ride from the TMI base in Chipoka. It was an experience of a lifetime. We were greeted by tons of children. They are so cute, of course. Our daughter, Jazzy, is 5 and was a little overwhelmed at first. The missionary said they probably never saw a white child before. They just touched her and her hair but within 5 minutes they were all friends. The team was in love at first sight with the children. On Sunday, Jimmy took the team on a 1 and 1/2 hour walk to church where he preached his first sermon.

Our tent village is going well, except for the ants that arrived in the middle of the night. Pray they look for new places to explore! As far as our squattie potties we are all adjusting fine. Jimmy had some of the team cut off the bottom of buckets so we can sit down if it’s our desire!

Today, we started our projects in the morning. The team started building a swing set, it will have swings, slides and monkey bars. We can’t wait to watch their faces the first time they get to use it! Pray we can get it finished in a week! This afternoon we started washing the feet of the orphans. The care and compassion our team has for these young ones is incredible! There was a young girl with cerebral palsy that we were able to find a pair of shoes to fit, after about 10 pairs and much prayer! It is precious to watch the faces of these children as they receive the shoes!"

Lauriana At Boot Camp

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:23:39 +0100

These pictures were taken sometime last week before the team left boot camp, maybe even the week prior. There are more on Facebook. Join the "TMI Malawi Footwashing 10015" group (or "like" the page, or whatever). I chose these because one shows Lauriana at their camp site where they lived for almost 3 weeks, and the other is when they're all dressed up ready to head to the airport, I think.

Safe in Malawi!

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:23:56 +0100

Lauriana, her cousin Drake, and the rest of the team arrived safely in Malawi Friday, July 16, best we can tell.I just found the update, the first one from Malawi, this afternoon. You can read it here on the Teen Missions website. Bookmark that site for future updates. Here's a picture of the team at Boot Camp. Lauriana is on the left, front row.

Videos of Lauriana

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:44:37 +0100

Teen Missions videos the evening "rallies" and streams them here. Here are a couple of the archived videos in which Lauriana appears, if briefly. The first one, June 26, she and her team are on camera for almost a whole minute. This is by far the longest glimpse we've had of her. Because we haven't been getting any letters for some reason, we rely on seeing her in these videos. Enjoy!

Note: you can browse all the Teen Mission videos here.

June 26, Teen Missions Rally
You can see Lauriana & Drake at 1:45 doing a cheer with her team.

June 28 Teen Missions Rally
Lauriana at 0:17 (seconds) upper right
Then briefly at 1:23

Lauriana's At Boot Camp!

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 18:05:32 +0100

Lauriana To Malawi
June 26, 2010
by Peter (Dad)

We flew to Orlando -- Jenifer, Chloe, Lauriana and I -- last Saturday (a week ago) to have a few days together as a family prior to dropping her off at the Teen Missions Boot Camp on Merritt Island, just south of Cape Canaveral (the Space Coast of Florida). We got to play at Epcot for several hours, at Animal Kingdom for a day, and we volunteered at Wycliffe USA for half a day. Then Wednesday, June 23, we went to Cocoa Beach for a few hours of fun in the sun, playing in the waves, and eating some seafood, before driving about 10 miles to Teen Missions camp. We arrived about 4:30, put all her stuff in a wheel barrow, surrendered her cell phone, and walked back to the big tent where all the teams were gathering and checking in. I saw teams going to Honduras, China, and many other places. There we met her team leaders for Malawi team 1 -- Jim, Jamie, and Lindsey -- and found cousin Drake and the other team members. Lauriana and her team were all excited to see each other in person after having connected over the last couple of months via Facebook: lots of squeals of joy and hugs.

Lauriana went through the various steps of checking in which involved various checklists, surrendering certain documents, tools, final payments, etc. and receiving certain items, checking things off a list. This process took about 45 minutes, but was completed in time for her to go with her team for the first team meal. Each person has her own dishes and washes them after each meal by dipping them in a series of tubs that supposedly result in clean dishes by the end. Lauriana said the food wasn't so great and she wasn't sure her dishes got clean, but she knew ahead of time that having no choice of food was part of their training so that when they arrived in rural Malawi, the second poorest country in the world, they would be somewhat prepared for a basic, limited diet.

After supper it was time to take her stuff back to the team's campsite, about a ten minute hike along trails, by sloughs and lakes and then into the woods where we found 6-8 two-person tents set up on little platforms about 8 inches off the ground and with tarps spread over the top of each tent. There were two shower stalls, and by stalls I mean a tarp strung up to four trees and a place to put a bucket of water with which to wash. There is no running water and the toilets are a 6-8 minute hike back up the trail. The lake is just through the woods about 30 yards away, so they'll get a nice breeze from time to time, but also plenty of mosquitoes, the first of which were starting to snack on us as we stood there and put Lauriana's stuff into one of the tents. It was good to visit with team leader Jim and with team members Hannah and Yulia as we walked back to the campsite.

Lauriana is going to develop some good friendships this summer. I can't wait to hear how things are going. But that's the challenge (for families and close friends) because there won't be much outgoing communication, just the occasional letter. I don't know how much time she'll have to write. We will be writing her letters and I hope some of you who are reading this will, too. This will be increasingly important to Lauriana as the days go by. Make sure to put the team name and number on the envelop. We will also email her but the emails cost a quarter per page for them to print out in the office and take to the kids; Lauriana has about $5 set aside to pay for the emails during these three weeks of boot camp, and we figure the 3-4 emails per week we, her immediate family, send her will use up her $5.

Boot Camp will be hard in some ways, lots of rules to follow some of which seem silly, quite rustic camping conditions, bugs galore, and food that is, well, less than delicious most of the time. For Lauriana, even recognizing all these challenges the first couple of hours, she was pumped to be there, to have the chance to bond with her teammates, and to be part of something bigger than herself.

Keep Lauriana and her team mates in your prayers and write to her from time to time. We'll try to keep you posted here as we hear from her.
Blessings!

TODAY!!!!

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:24:44 +0100

Hello everyone! Today is the day that my journey begins!! I have spent the past few days in Orlando Florida with my family, vacationing and relaxing just a bit before my mission starts. I've been experiencing my ''lasts.'' the last hot shower, the last time I get to use a soft squishy pillow, the last time I get to taste a perfect steak.... yeah. It's kinda sad. I'm incredibly excited though!! My fellow team mates are mostly already at Boot Camp, and I will be joining them in a few short hours. I am now handing this website over to my parents and they will take control from here! I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who has helped me reach this goal. Please continue to pray for me and my team, we definitely need the support. and don't forget.... WRITE ME LETTERS!!!!!! All the info is on the bottom of the home page, pleeeease write me. =) Okay... I'm heading out... I love you all soooo much! Thanks for having my back =)
~Lauriana