Itinerary & map...

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The pink flags are where we've been, the purple lines are the routes we've taken, and the blue flags are the places friends have suggested or invited us to visit. Africa

• July 2nd fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, to visit Mutodi & Leslee Neshehe
• July 9th bus to Maputo, Mozambique, to visit Lisa Frist, lead games & devotion with ministry to street kids, a local youth group, and possibly a outreach cafe' ministry... visit orphanges and more
• July 15-20th make our way on to Lilongwe, Malawi, to serve with Ministry of Hope, lead a recreation training for youth workers, reconnect with people in Selengo & Matapila, possibly visit Mzuzu, Malawi, to visit Ministry of Hope outreach
• August 10th make our way back to South Africa, then to Lesotho, Durban, Pretoria, Cape Town and possibly Swaziland... hopefully meeting up with Mark Walkup, Sharlene Shwartz, 13th Floor, and more...
• September 12-23rd fly to Madagascar, back through Johannesburg for a day

India

• September 24th fly to Mumbai, India, where we hope to connect with our friend Manju's family
• Spend a few weeks traveling south to Kerala where we hope visit Immanuel Church of South India (where our friends Julie & Adrian served), and then maybe fly north to New Delhi and take a few weeks to travel east to Durgapur where we hope to visit with the Diocese of Durgapur, India Episcopal Church (sister Diocese to Diocese of WNC) and maybe even the Sisters of Mercy in Kolkata

Southeast Asia

• November 8th fly from Kolkata to Bankok, Thailand, to visit with Amy & Kip Baggett (Ruth Ann Somerville's sister) then on to travel through Southeast Asia including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam

Hong Kong/Southern China

• January 24th fly to Hong Kong hoping to visit the McEntire's, the Woods, and more and hope to make it into southern China to visit the Vinzani's

New Zealand

• February 15th fly to Christchurch, New Zealand, to travel through the south & some of the north island connecting with youth workers/colleagues of Aaron Roberts

Australia

• April 14th fly to Sydney, Australia, and from there travel to Canberra to catch up with Pete DeVries, to Adelaide to spend time with the Dowlings (my host family from 1991), to Melbourne maybe, and more... hopefully track down some old friends while meeting new ones and make it north to the Brisbane and the Great Barrier Reef

Fiji / Vancouver

• June 2nd fly to Fiji for about a week, then to Vancouver, British Columbia, to visit Sue & Johnny Wilson, Amy & Aaron Roberts with Nieu Communities, Johannah Wetzel, Joyce Heron with Jacob's Well, and Rachel & Ed

Final Leg

• June 24th fly to San Francisco to visit Tony Deifell & Mardie Oakes
• July 1st fly back to Charlotte, NC... just in time for July 4th in WNC

Whew! All these desinations and order are set but the timing is flexible with RTW tickets. So the dates are subject to change... and probably will. As you can tell, our contacts are 'jelling' in Africa but slowly coming together beyond. It makes me a little anxious but I know it's God's lesson of faith and trust. Please let us know if you have any contacts (friends, family, or ministries, etc.) in any of the places we plan to visit. We know that we will gain a better perspective of each culture if we are connected to locals. Please be in prayer for us as we have too much to humanly accomplish in these last 5 days. Ginny Owens' song "I AM" keeps running through my head. Please watch this blogspot. You can even subscribe to the rss feed (below the picture) to get a notice in your inbox anytime we update. Keep praying... it's the backbone to this unique call. Blessings, Heather

3 weeks and counting

The tickets are booked.
We're working on logistics daily... which includes research, networking, designing trainings, praying about objectives, and saying goodbye to this blessed community in WNC.
I would love to say that everything is coming together... well it is, in Africa. Lessons of faith... He will give us the sense of things 'jelling' as we go. It'd be too easy if it were all planned perfectly... plus we'd think it was all because of our effort, not because of His sovereignty. It will come together.
We will leave on July 1st and land gently off this international cliff into the arms of our friends Mutodi and Leslee in Johannesburg. After a week we are on to our friend, Lisa Frist, in Maputo, Mozambique. Then the Ministry of Hope in Lilongwe, Malawi for a few weeks and maybe our friends, Mark & Ruth Walkup, in Zimbabwe on our way back to South Africa. We hope to make it down to Cape Town and to Lesotho to visit with the Dimmocks. We plan to go to Madagascar from Sept. 2-12 with a day lay-over in Johannesburg before flying to India.
So, that is the first few months. We will keep you posted as we go.
Please keep us in your prayers as we work on logistics. Pray that we will sense Christ walking with us, leading us, each step of this journey. And that we will culturally sensitive along the way.