Our personal belongings either sold or stored. Our bags packed. Debts paid off. Tickets bought. Visas in hand. Partners lined up. The vision is in place. Kissed our loved ones. Said our good-byes. Away we went…
So much more went into our departure. After the decision to go to South Africa was made, it all went into place. We planned out the next 2 months. I made arrangements to sell my nail business. We scheduled 2 garage sales to sell everything we owned. Arrangements were made to store what was to be kept; pictures, taxes, and personal items. We made a list of important items that needed to be completed before our departure. Eric and Abby’s passports needed to be updated. That involved getting new passport photos taken, attending an appointment with the passport office and submitting the applications. We all needed to make vision, doctor and dental appointments, as well as purchase missionary health insurance. Matt and I paid off our cell phones and had FBI-certified full criminal background checks done. We received a letter of support from a hosting organization from within South Africa. Matt worked on setting up and creating our non-profit organization (501-C3). We scheduled our going-away parties. We gave our notice to move out of our rental and into my Aunt Debbie’s house. We paid off all our debts.
During all of this, it was important to us that we spend time with our loved ones. We also wanted share the vision that God placed on our hearts. Our schedule was full of coffee dates, BBQ’s at friends’ houses, and many appointments with family, friends, and church leaders. Matt and I attended the ICare Summit: Local/Global Food Crisis, hosted by Vineyard in Garden City. We even managed to squeeze in a Celtic dance party, Matt’s birthday, Mother’s Day, 2 concerts, Eric’s graduation and a graduation party or 2. We didn’t really have time to think about anything outside our goal of getting our family to South Africa.
We boarded a plane at 1:20pm on June 4th, 2015 in Boise, Idaho. We flew from Boise, Idaho to Seattle, Washington, then onto to Dubai. From Dubai to Johannesburg, South Africa and finally down to George, South Africa arriving on June 6th, 2015 at 1:30pm. And so the journey has begun.
