The rainy, yet beautiful stay in Hawaii was quite a short one! Before we knew it Anna, Tyla, Kayla, Merrie Jo, and I headed off to meet the rest of the team (Minus one. She's meeting us in Dehli) at the Lihue airport. After a 20 minute flight to Honolulu we waited 2 hours for our next flight to Manila, Plilippians. The second flight to Manila lasted 11 hours! Finally, we made it and sat/napped/ate/practiced the skit for 5 hours before our 3+ hour flight to Singapore. We've been served meals in all of the longer flights and the food is actually decent! There were some mystery meat "ham" sandwiches that tasted alright, but the meat looked like ground up bologna. Haha! All of the new experiences are really exciting though and I can't wait to see what happens.
Waiting in the Singapore airport has sure been an exciting experience! With a 7 hour layover, there have been plenty of things to do. This airport is the biggest I've ever been in. Various stores and restaurants have occupied our time as well as naps on the floor. The stores in this place seem to go on forever! Anna and I eventually turned around and went back to the group. We didn't want to go too far off. Fortunately this is a very safe airport and we can actually drink out of the water fountains! yay! We'll have to buy water the rest of the way. That's not all that has happened though...
Anna got an email from her dad saying that the baggage claim people in Honolulu didn't ship our check-bags with us on our flights to Chennai! So turns out we only have our carry-on bags and will have to buy anything else we need in India. We are grateful for our friends who are willing to share supplies and are trusting God that He'll keep our luggage safe.
Please pray for health and well being for everyone during the rest of the trip! It's about 5:10am Singapore time.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Prayer Requests from Merrie Jo Crumpley
requests--that our packing would include everything we need
-that I will be prepared mentally and spiritually for the teaching that I will be doing on discipline
-that the team will gel and be able to practice the mime skit on the good samaritan
-wisdom for Tyla, my daughter in finishing up all the details and prepare her presentations
-that HIB will approve a worship workshop or guitar lessons for the orphans on campus
-For hearts to be ready for the messages, that God will ordain the what and how of the messages--one of which is how to live honestly in a society that is not honest and why
-That I will be seen as a member of the team, not organizer--i.e. that Tyla will be seen as the leader by those at HBI. This may be hard since the people at HBI know me already and I have been communicating with them as well as Tyla.
That is a lot. I know God is in control--pray that all of us are letting Him control.
Love you all and do appreciate all of your prayers which include any others you think of.
Merrie Jo and Anna and Kelsy
The First Few Days (in HI)
After a heartwarming departure with my dad, Anna's family, and the Shehy's from Kirby Woods, we took a 3 & 1/2 hour plane ride from Memphis to Phoenix, AZ. After a 45 minute layover wait (just enough time to grab a Quizznos sub, use the restroom, and locate our next flight) we flew across the ocean for 7 hours to our first major destination: Lihue, Kauai. Fortunate for us, we actually made the second flight! We thought we arrived to the waiting area early, because there weren't any other passengers around. It turns out that the rest of them had already boarded the plane! Fortunately, our names were called over the loudspeaker and we still made the flight.
Before even arriving at the gorgeous island, I took several pictures out the window of the plane as Anna and I gasped at the beauty that surrounded us. We even saw a giant rainbow gracing the surface of the water! Tyla greeted us at the entrance to the Lihue airport in a white minivan and we drove (myself, snapping pics most of the way) to their humble abode. I would describe the neighborhood as "adorable" as all of the houses have what appear to be mini palm trees in their front yards. That night we settled in and went to bed around 8:30 (we were tired!) and waking the next morning around 7:30 to the delicious smell of Mr. Doug Kozub's (aka: Doug, as he insists to be called) amazing omelette's.
After breakfast Anna and I went for a 50-minute walk with Her Aunt Tyla Kozub. It was beautiful! The greens here really are greener. ;) She told us about the different islands and some of the jobs that she and Doug have running the New Hope Lihue church that they started 8 years ago this coming Sunday. There is a significant demonic influence among people in the Hawaiian islands and Tyla often prays over people struggling with the paralyzing fear from an evil spirit. After finishing our walk, we drove back to the house. Anna and I grabbed a few school books to finish off the morning right by studying on the beach.
Kalapachi beach is just outside the Mariott Hotel and is open to the public! (as are all the beaches on the Hawaiian islands - awesome, right?) We found a wonderful grassy place to relax, study, and get a little bit of sun. After a couple hours, we walked over to a tourist shop where Anna bought a pink wrap skirt and we shared a delish "Blue Hawaiian" snow cone. Upon being picked up by Tyla/Aunt Tyla we returned to the house to finish some more school work and eat a yummy lasagna dinner with Grandma Crumpley, Doug, Tyla, and their awesome kids: Kayla, Kathleen, and Zach. What started off as a jam packed day didn't slow down until after getting supplies at the local mall and wal-mart, and passing my PartyLite Candle fundraising order form along to Rhonda Cabello (another member of the team).
Various calls and texts from family and friends have been coming in sporatically - and we hope to keep recieving them before Saturday! - when we depart for India and won't have cell service. Lots of prayers for functioning technology would be greatly appreciated. Mrs. Crumpley's computer, expecially - since Anna and I will have to send in homework assignments online even while in India.
Today (Thursday) started off with a plan to visit three of Kauai's most beautiful beaches. Unfortunately a rain storm, that has lasted about 4 hours already. washed out our plans. I'm alright with it though. It's giving us more time to complete homework and go over the schedule for India. We hope to see the beaches either tomorrow or when we return to HI after India before heading back to the mainland. This week, although we get to see and explore beautiful places, is mostly for planning all the activites that we'll be organizing for the orphan children in Chennai and packing, purchasing more supplies, and repacking some more. Much planning has to be done to help the upcoming days be successful.
On to cramming in the rest of my psychology chapter, cutting a speech for a tournament, and doing a couple more math lessons before bed. By the way... if you're wondering about the time difference... we are 4 hours behind central time right now. Almost 1 o'clock here is almost 4pm there. Please continue to pray for the children in the boy's and girl's orphanages and the school's we'll be visiting. Pray for good communication among the team and with those to whom we'll be teaching and witnessing.
Before even arriving at the gorgeous island, I took several pictures out the window of the plane as Anna and I gasped at the beauty that surrounded us. We even saw a giant rainbow gracing the surface of the water! Tyla greeted us at the entrance to the Lihue airport in a white minivan and we drove (myself, snapping pics most of the way) to their humble abode. I would describe the neighborhood as "adorable" as all of the houses have what appear to be mini palm trees in their front yards. That night we settled in and went to bed around 8:30 (we were tired!) and waking the next morning around 7:30 to the delicious smell of Mr. Doug Kozub's (aka: Doug, as he insists to be called) amazing omelette's.
After breakfast Anna and I went for a 50-minute walk with Her Aunt Tyla Kozub. It was beautiful! The greens here really are greener. ;) She told us about the different islands and some of the jobs that she and Doug have running the New Hope Lihue church that they started 8 years ago this coming Sunday. There is a significant demonic influence among people in the Hawaiian islands and Tyla often prays over people struggling with the paralyzing fear from an evil spirit. After finishing our walk, we drove back to the house. Anna and I grabbed a few school books to finish off the morning right by studying on the beach.
Kalapachi beach is just outside the Mariott Hotel and is open to the public! (as are all the beaches on the Hawaiian islands - awesome, right?) We found a wonderful grassy place to relax, study, and get a little bit of sun. After a couple hours, we walked over to a tourist shop where Anna bought a pink wrap skirt and we shared a delish "Blue Hawaiian" snow cone. Upon being picked up by Tyla/Aunt Tyla we returned to the house to finish some more school work and eat a yummy lasagna dinner with Grandma Crumpley, Doug, Tyla, and their awesome kids: Kayla, Kathleen, and Zach. What started off as a jam packed day didn't slow down until after getting supplies at the local mall and wal-mart, and passing my PartyLite Candle fundraising order form along to Rhonda Cabello (another member of the team).
Various calls and texts from family and friends have been coming in sporatically - and we hope to keep recieving them before Saturday! - when we depart for India and won't have cell service. Lots of prayers for functioning technology would be greatly appreciated. Mrs. Crumpley's computer, expecially - since Anna and I will have to send in homework assignments online even while in India.
Today (Thursday) started off with a plan to visit three of Kauai's most beautiful beaches. Unfortunately a rain storm, that has lasted about 4 hours already. washed out our plans. I'm alright with it though. It's giving us more time to complete homework and go over the schedule for India. We hope to see the beaches either tomorrow or when we return to HI after India before heading back to the mainland. This week, although we get to see and explore beautiful places, is mostly for planning all the activites that we'll be organizing for the orphan children in Chennai and packing, purchasing more supplies, and repacking some more. Much planning has to be done to help the upcoming days be successful.
On to cramming in the rest of my psychology chapter, cutting a speech for a tournament, and doing a couple more math lessons before bed. By the way... if you're wondering about the time difference... we are 4 hours behind central time right now. Almost 1 o'clock here is almost 4pm there. Please continue to pray for the children in the boy's and girl's orphanages and the school's we'll be visiting. Pray for good communication among the team and with those to whom we'll be teaching and witnessing.
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