Day One - Pittsburgh to Paris

Either sunrise or sunset from the plane - not sure which...I loved looking at the clouds from the plane and the sun made such marvelous colors as it moved across the sky.

This is Sue - trying to sleep on the plane. It was very noisy and a little chilly, so she did her best to combat both! Who needs sleep anyway....

View from the plane. It was neat to see the fields from the air. The land looked very different compared to the U.S.

At the Paris airport. The big sign in the background had letters that flipped when a new flight arrived. It was really cool to watch it work. The big green pillar had 2 or 3 different advertisements inside and rotated.

I am in Paris!!!

My lunch in Paris - a lovely ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette grilled panini style - yummmm!

The famous Moulin Rouge - shows are still performed here today!

The Louvre Museum - the large glass pyramid is the entrance.

Our group in the gallery where the Mona Lisa hangs.

Me and Mona...The most famous painting in the world! Bonus points if you know the name of the painter! The Mona Lisa hangs in the Louvre Museum and is seperated from the crowd by a plexiglass box and a wooden railing. This is about as close as a person can get to the painting. Of course Mona Lisa is not the only thing to see in the Louvre! Every place you look there is something amazing to see, including the building itself.

One of the last stops on the green bus tour was the Eiffel Tower. It was really amazing to stand at the bottom of one of the most famous landmarks in the world. For some reason I expected it to be green?!!

Home Again!

Hello friends and family! I have finally arrived home after a looooong travel. Sorry about the lack of posts while I was away, I was not able to get wifi and I was very busy while we were gone. I can say that my trip was amazing and I will be adding posts over the next few days to share my pictures and experiences with you. Thanks to all of you for the prayers - God really worked wonders for us and I can't wait to tell you all about everything!

Nitty Gritty

Well, we are getting down to the nitty gritty now. I will be departing in a little over 24 hours. I am still packing - in fact it looks like several mini tornados have swept through my bedroom over the last few days. I still have some things to prepare for the trip and my kids are driving me batty - I sure will miss them while I am gone though.

I am including a picture of the team that will be traveling to Mozambique. Please pray for us and that traveling is safe and easy and that we all stay healthy and strong on the trip.

Our first stop on our journey is Paris. We are hoping to do some sightseeing and spend some time at the Louvre. Then we will be off to Johannesburg, South Africa. I will try to add some new posts from the airport in France as we wait for the plane. Talk to you then!

Update 2

This week we are working more on curriculum and trying to plan out our days and how we will present material. We are still in need of interpreters and we are trying to remember to keep things simple. So far I have written a lesson on drawing because that requires the least amount of "stuff" to do. Now I wonder what to plan for next?

I have found out that all of the teachers do speak Portuguese so I will need to review that heavily before I leave. I think a brush up of French would also be good for the day we will be in Paris.

I have had a few more donations this week and now I only need to raise $785 for the trip. I was sweating it there for a while and didn't think I would ever get this close. But God is good and he will provide - just as he provides for all the birds in the air!

I will need to remember to take my Malaria medication on Wednesday. One of the side effects is having strange and bothersome dreams. I hope this is not the case as my dreams are pretty wacky as it is.

That is all for now!
Heather Lena

Donations Update

Thanks to all of you who have donated to my mission! I am happy to report that I am closer than ever to reaching my goal. I have only $860 left to go!

Right now I am working on the lessons that I will be presenting to the teachers and trying to work out which supplies I will need for the projects. We are planning a cooperative group cross-curricular workshop where each US teacher will be in charge of a station that the Moz. teachers will rotate through. Right now we are short on translators and this could change what we have planned. We are hopeful that God will put all the pieces in place and that we will be able to carry on with our plans.

We have also been working on a prayer tree that will have tags to hand out to parishioners to remind them to pray for us while we are gone. Our team will also be featured in a video during the services on July 4th and 5th. I am a little camera shy so I will skip that part....

Thanks again to all of you who are praying for me and sending donations. I am feeling very blessed to have so many interested and caring friends and family members!

New Info

First of all, thanks to all of you who are praying for me and the mission and the people in Africa and the mission team. I have had some generous donations this week and now I need $1,950 by the 19th. I know God will provide!

Checking my email today I have learned that we are renting a van to drive from Johannesburg, S. Africa to Maputo, Mozambique and that it is a right hand drive and a stick shift. Exciting! The trip will take about 8 hours.

We have also heard from Les who runs the Bethel Center and she has responded regarding the supplies we plan to provide for her teachers. She is overwhelmed with gratitude and we are excited to be able to provide a way for this awesome blessing to reach her and the teachers there. I am very excited to get moving and start helping rather than planning.

21 Days to go!!!

Pictures

This is a picture of some students and their classroom. Les (far right) is handing out some supplies for the children.

This is a picture of a teacher and her classroom. She is showing us her blackboard.

This is a picture of Les (far right) and some children. They are in need of clothing.