On a more serious note, I’ve just completed a week trip to Austin, Texas for the SXSW Interactive festival. To get to Austin, I had to fly there. Now, I’m no stranger to air travel, with last year racking up 20+ flights, but I still find it interesting watching people go through TSA security checkpoints. Most people know what to do: take your shoes off, take you laptop out, put metal objects in the bin, and so on. But there are some people who, despite the various signs and placards, haven’t a clue what to do. The media constantly talk about getting to the airport early, they ALWAYS broadcast new TSA policies regarding air travel, and the TSA has a handy-dandy website where you can get all the information you ever needed (or didn’t need) to know about your trip. They also have a blog (who knew!) where they keep us up to date on the day-to-day goings on inside the TSA, and how it affects you. So why don’t some people follow the rules and make everyone’s life easier by putting their liquids in a zipped baggie and having their boarding passes and IDs out?

I know there are those that don’t travel often. I’m fine with those people, I used to be one of them, but make sure you prepare as best you can:

• Carry-on luggage is king. It’s probably the best thing you can do to make your life easier. No need to wait at baggage claim, and no risk of it getting lost.
• If you’re checking luggage, carry on at least one pair of clothes. A friend of mine just found out his bags were sent to San Francisco instead of Des Moines, his actual destination. Now he doesn’t have a week’s worth of clothes for immediate use.
• Pack light. You don’t need 7 sets of clothes for 7 days. A few shirts and a few pants/shorts will do you good. You can hand wash them in the hotel bathroom you’ll be at, and even save money!
• Be early, not on time. Sure, chilling at the airport can be boring, but I’d rather be bored than nearly miss my flight because of unexpected delays at security or even slow traffic.
• If possible, wear sandals. Ew, gross. I know. But again, it’s a time saving measure and they actually feel more comfortable on the plane than your tight shoes.
• Get TSA-approved luggage locks. With these, they won’t have to cut them off and discard them. And who knows, maybe you’ll get a nice letter from them thanking you for allowing them to (easily and without your knowing) search your luggage.

The list goes on and on, but that right there is a nice summary of what you need to make life for you and your fellow passengers a bit easier. Now… where’s my connecting flight at?

Well, a certain someone (*cough* Ben) has been bugging me to update my blog. Pictures are coming later. Here we go:

h2. Asia Trip!

Just came back from a month-long business/mission trip in the Asia region. We visited India, Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia, and the Philippines in the month of July. Man, it was hot. And humid. But the most awesomest part about the entire trip was seeing God’s work in motion in all these little areas! From a pastor’s conference in India, to a publisher meeting in the Philippines, God was moving in His glorious way through the ministry of these men and women.

In India we attended a pastor’s conference in Hyderabad that had around 250 pastors in attendance. We also ordained about 20 men into Gospel ministry. Talking to one pastor who was severely beaten to near death, he told me that even if his body were cut to pieces (which he _was_ threatened with), each piece of his body would continue to proclaim the Gospel! That, my dear friends, is commitment. Later on, we gave this same pastor a motorbike so he could expand his ministry area and bring Christ’s love to a wider audience. Next we traveled south to Chennai, an area where we minister to 100,000 children _each week_, to celebrate their 30th year in BCM ministry..

In Nepal we met with a few people that wanted to be missionaries with BCM, and we went to a house church and spoke (well, I just took pictures and video). 100 people jam packed into that house, it too was inspiring to see the grass-roots Christian movements in an officially Hindu nation. The pastor of this church is praying for God’s providing of a plot of land to build an actual church building, so please pray for that.

In Myanmar we met with some of our missionaries, and had the rather-dubious honor of being tracked by Myanmar officials upon arrival. Yup, we were being tailed! We didn’t do much traveling, just a lot of meetings with some missionaries and a publisher in the area. We’re hoping to have some of our curricula published in this closed nation.

In Indonesia, we attended the wedding of one of our missionaries’ daughter. It was a beautiful service, but the reception was even MORE fun. 1000 people in a big hall, jamming to music and tons of photo ops with the now-happy couple. Again, we had the honor of speaking in a few church services, one aimed toward adults and the other towards youth.

In the Philippines, we attended a conference for missionaries and leaders of our BCM branch there, called Bible Centered Fellowship. A great time of instruction, encouragement, worship, and all-around fun. The ministry there in the Philippines in expansive and include ministering to tribal areas as well as to the Muslim population.

Now, all during the trip, we had about 14 flights, ranging from about an hour or two to a whopping 18 hours, non-stop. Our ‘home base’ for the trip was the Singapore Airport, a majestic fusion of shopping mall and airport. By the end, I pretty much knew where every Internet kiosk was, which massage machines to use, and even where all the lifts and dining establishments were. I think some of the people there started to know who we were.

All in all, it was a great trip that I absolutely loved going on, but I’m glad to be home!

_April 26: Yay! An update!_

_(This blog post will be updated as I have a chance to get on the Internet here in southern Africa… the latest changes will always be at the end of the post, marked by a new section number.)_

h2. Part 1

Well I made it to Africa Thursday afternoon (local time) and have had a blast so far. The time change was a bit hard to overcome, but we’ve settled into it just time. We’ve had several meetings with our “African missionaries”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441211520/in/set-72157600011289600/, and it’s interesting for me (as a lower level headquarters staff person) to see just how much of the international work is conducted both on the local level and on the international level. I can’t exactly go into what all we’ve done and talked about, but it’s been very enlightening.

To give an idea of what we’ve done, Thursday we arrived around 2:15 pm local time (or +2 GMT and +6 EDT), came to the hotel for a bit, then had interviews with our local missionaries. We eventually got back to the hotel at midnight (6 PM EDT) but since we’d been up for over 32 hours, we were quite tired. Friday we held a meeting with our missionaries in the morning, and then in the afternoon we dropped people off to their respective transports, then to a gentleman’s house for dinner. Today (Saturday) we went to check on our “Mozambique visas”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/426774809/in/set-72157600011289600/ but found that they weren’t valid now (due to our trip being delayed a week). We went to the Union Building in Pretoria (the South African equivalent to the White House) but it was closed, so we went to a lion park and saw some hyenas, cheetahs, gazelle, ostriches, “giraffes”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441213984/in/set-72157600011289600/, and (of course) “lions”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441214890/in/set-72157600011289600/ (seen “here”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441215058/in/set-72157600011289600/, “here”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441215162/in/set-72157600011289600/, “here”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441215216/in/set-72157600011289600/, and most definitely “here”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441215255/in/set-72157600011289600/). I got to pet a “lion cub”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441214705/in/set-72157600011289600/ and got up close and personal (in the safety of the car) to some full grown lions. Afterwards we went to the “Voortrekker Monument”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441219107/in/set-72157600011289600/, a massive monument that ‘commemorates’ the Dutch pioneers who came to southern Africa and made war with the native Zulu tribes — and were victorious. This monument was built commemorating what, in the Afrikaners’ mind, is the most important event in South African history. It’s interesting to see, in action, how history is written by those in power. This monument is not very popular to most South Africans (the majority being black) as evidenced by there being no black tourists there, and the majority of white tourists there speaking Afrikaans (a derivative language of Dutch). The monument is, literally, a celebration of the apartheid era. After that visit, we went to an amazing restaurant named “Carnivore”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcl/441217599/in/set-72157600011289600/. They serve a wide variety of meat and game meats that are constantly changing such as impala, kudu, crocodile as well as more normal meats such as pork, chicken and beef.

So basically that’s been our trip thus far…. three days down, 7 more to go! I appreciate both your prayer and financial support… without it, I wouldn’t be here!

h2. Part 2

On Sunday we went to one of our missionary’s church plants. It was a small group, but quite an encouragement to both them and us about the work being done there. It was an awesome time of heartfelt worship! Marty got up and preached, and all I did was walk around and take pictures. Afterwards, we just rested a lot and had dinner with the missionary.

Monday we traveled to Kruger National Park (all the way in the eastern part of the country), but due to a few wrong turns, got there about an hour before closing time. So we looked for a little place to stay and found a very nice bed and breakfast to stay at for the night. The next day we went into the park and drove around for a while whilst taking in the area and all the animals! We saw some impala, elephants, rhinos, giraffes, baboons, zebras, wild pig, and all sorts of other things! After that, we left for Swaziland, which was just a few hours away. After a successful border crossing, we went into the capital of Mbabane, and stayed at another sort of B&B (which just happened to be owned by one of the princesses!).

The next day, we traveled with one of our Swazi missionaries who is lovingly called Auntie Seko by the populace. Yup, that’s right, the populace… EVERYONE knows who she is! She’s been ministering in the small kingdom of Swaziland for 30 years, so we wouldn’t be surprised if even the king knew who she was. We went to a local primary school where her assistant ministers, and the assistant (Martha) taught a Gospel lesson right there in front of the entire school! Marty also spoke to all the kids — it was interesting to watch them looking at this strange white guy that spoke all weird. After that we just went and did a lot of touristy things that Auntie Seko wanted us to do to show us her country. The entire place is totally beautiful, nestled snuggly in the Drakensberg mountains. We then went to a Bible club she runs near another school. It’s amazing to watch her teach! If you met her, you’d come across this very soft-spoken and meek lady, but once you get her in front of the kids, she’s very energetic.

The next day, Wednesday, we went to another school that Auntie Seko ministers at way up high in the mountains. Again, it was wonderful to see all the children paying attention to the Gospel lesson.

After that was over, we decided to head back to Joberg and see if we couldn’t bump our flight up a day. Fortunately we were able to, and got back a day earlier than planned. All in all, it was a great trip, and very tiring. It was awesome to see, however, the energy and speed at which our missionaries there go when it comes to telling people about Christ and His love for us!

OK. Time for an update.

I’m not in Africa.

Due to some passport issues with my boss (that the travel agent didn’t take care of), we were unable to go to Africa on Thursday. This kinda bummed both of us out, and things were looking pretty doubtful at the time.

This morning, however I found out that our trip has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 28, through Saturday, April 6. We’re not terribly sure what all we’ll be _doing_ on the trip, other than one specific meeting… but I’m sure everything will work out.

So, that’s the latest…. You now know just about as much as I do.