ONE WEEK

We fly out one week from tomorrow! I thought I'd give a run down of our week, in case you're wondering what our last week in the States will look like!

Monday, July 8:
Isaac has VBS each day from 9 - 12 at Fifth Reformed church in our neighborhood. Friends have graciously offered to get him there & pick him up.  Marc has to go to the dentist & girls to the doc in the morning. Afternoon will be spent packing, cleaning & making one final trip to Muskegon to put things in storage.

Tuesday, July 9 - Friday, July 12:
8am orientation at Christian Reformed World Missions til 7ish. Each evening after orientation will be cleaning, packing, writing thank you notes, etc. The kids have different sitters each day. Isaac will have VBS in the morning & then will be coming to the kids orientation in the afternoon.

Friday night the kids are sleeping at my Sis & Bro in laws house, leaving Marc and I time to finish cleaning at the parsonage, any last errands, etc. OR if it's all done already, maybe go out on a date. We still have christmas gift cards to use!

Saturday, July 13:
The last of our furniture is getting picked up & the morning will be spent moving our luggage to my parents house, where we will sleep Sat & Sun nights. Several friends are coming into town & we hope to spend some time with them in the afternoon.

Sunday, July 14:
10am is our commissioning service at Plymouth Heights CRC. You are ALL invited! There will be a light lunch afterwards. One of my students is also making profession of faith. I will not be wearing makeup, that's for sure.

4pm-7pm on that Sunday is our goodbye party. It's at our friends, the Buists home at 2455 Barfield Dr SE, 49546. There will be food around 5 or 5:30pm. This will be open house style, so swing by for as long as you want!

Monday, July 15:
We will likely be to the airport around 11:30am with our 11+ pieces of luggage and many emotions. Our families will be coming to the airport to say goodbye there. Our flight is 2:34pm out of Grand Rapids.

Our flight goes from Grand Rapids to DC, where we have about a 2 hour layover. We then depart from DC and fly overnight to Zurich, Switzerland. We have about 1 1/2 hours there before boarding and heading to Africa. We'll touch down in Kenya (without getting off) and then hop over to Tanzania, arriving at 8:30pm Tuesday, July 16. We will be +7 hours there.

Please pray for us as we wrap things up around here, say goodbye to so many friends & family, pack, etc. Please pray for smooth flights without complications. Pray for our adjustment to a new time zone and deal with jet lag. Pray for us as we figure out all the initial details once we land.

We are so grateful for the love, encouragement & support of you all!