Favor Favor Favor - First Class

Yeah, we finally have arrived to our new home in Uganda. The journey here was very eventful. As you know, we ended up missing our connecting flight in Toronto Canada, because our flight was late. It was quite challenging waiting for 3 hours in line to figure out how and when we would fly out and on with our journey. We were shocked when working with the airline to discover they refused to help out with any of the cost of storing out luggage or the cost of a hotel/meals. 

All of our bags

Thankfully we found a great place to stay that accepted dogs. Two days later as we prepared to head to the airport, we all sat together to pray.  We know God causes all things to work together for good, so we wanted to ask for this and prepare our hearts to find that GOOD! Since we had to reschedule our flight, we were now passed the airlines deadline for flying animals in the cargo hold. Since the temperatures can get extremely hot, they set a cutoff date which was the day we were originally scheduled to fly. On this day, the temperature was over 95 degrees, so we weren’t sure what was going to happen!

 

Mike sitting in his first class pod! The seats lay all the way back

When we first arrived at the airport, we got the run around. We were sent to three different check-in gates, because no one knew how to handle Maggie. Finally, a lady called the manager for help. At first, the manager was adamant that no dogs could fly on this day, but then he remembered seeing us a couple days before. Suddenly, his entire attitude changed! He worked everything out for Maggie to fly, but not only that, when he heard that the manager from previous days had refused to compensate us for our layover, he was in shock. He made arrangements to have us reimbursed for all of our expenses, but not only that, he then decided to upgrade us to first class. Then, he made special arrangements to have us wait in the first class lounge. He called the lounge desk and asked that they take special care of us! NOT ONLY THAT, but he had someone look after Maggie in an air-conditioned room until just prior to boarding. We were in shock! God is so faithful.

Maggie boarding the first flight

On our flight from Brussels to Uganda, we had to make a stop in Rwanda. We waited for about 1 hour on the plane while they boarded more passengers. I went to the stewardess and asked if they could possibly check on Maggie and give her water while we waited.  I returned to my seat and about 20 minutes later there was an announcement over the speaker. “To the owners of Maggie the dog, she is doing well and has been given water”. Everyone on the plane began to clap! It was so funny.

We asked many of you to pray for Maggie’s trip to Uganda. Since there isn’t anything clear and concise of how to bring your dog into Uganda, we weren’t sure if we would have the correct paper work. Right before we boarded the plane in Toronto, we received an email from our friend in the Ugandan government telling us Maggie would have to be quarantined for up to 7 days. After the special treatment Maggie had received up to the point before our entry into Uganda, we had to believe it would all work out….and sure enough it did. When we got to the baggage claim area in the Uganda airport, we found Maggie sitting in her crate by the baggage carousel. We put her on a luggage trolley along with all our other bags and headed out to our van. It was smooth sailing.

We’ve been having fun getting all of our stuff unpacked and figuring out the best way to organize everything. We’ve been to town twice now to go grocery shopping and to pick up miscellaneous items. Today we went to visit a church and heard a wonderful message from a UK minister. It was inspiring and just what we needed to hear. I loved hearing the Bible read with an English accent! I loved hearing the birds sing and watch the butterflies swooping over the flowers while Jesus was shared with us all. Life in Uganda is full of beautiful things and we are working to discover them day by day. We started our trip with the reminder that God does cause things to work together for good. We know HE will continue to reveal this truth to us and we are so thankful to be able to have this hope. 

Our view this morning from our window. God is Good!

Thanks for sharing this journey with us.

Lori

PS – Maggie absolutely loves it here!

The Amazing Race...First stop Toronto Canada

Can you believe I sent in a video to apply for the Amazing Race a few years ago. Well after yesterday’s adventures in the Toronto Airport, I know that is not what I was created to do! At least not a televised race. We are definitely headed towards something amazing, but amazing doesn't just happen....it's a process.

Where to begin…hmmm…well here is the breakdown for you of how our adventure to Uganda via the airlines began:

Waiting to check in at the PDX airport. Notice all the carry-ons

Our friend Janet waiting with Maggie and all of our bags in Portland

Maggie getting ready to board the plane in Portland

•  3am wake up and finish packing up our house as well as our last bags 

•  4am meet our friends who helped to transport our 12 bags plus our dog Maggie 

•  Head to the airport to arrive to the busiest Portland Airport we have seen the last 9 years of traveling (summer travel has officially begun) 

•  Found the Air Canada counter (very small!!!) waited two hours and then finally boarded our plane 

•  While we were on our way to Toronto, I was inspired with an invention….something you can put over your face to breath clean smelling air. You know those times when others are having “stomach problems” and share it with the rest of the plane? 

•  Once we land in Toronto the real adventure began.

The flight attendants handed everyone a customs declaration form. We arrived a little late and our connection was already tight. We had no idea we had to go through customs, but they ASSURED us it would only take 7 minutes to clear customs and make it to our next connection.

Once Mike exited off of the plane, he asked the gate attendant where we needed to go. Since we were headed to Brussels, he sent us to through customs to the international flights. We are flying international right, WRONG!

After our long marathon journey to our gate (each one carrying 2 carry-ons which are packed to the max along with necessary pillows and blankets) we realized we were at the wrong gate. Once we asked the gate attendant, she started shaking her head. We knew our work out moisture (sweat) wouldn’t have time to dry. They then lead us through a “secret passage” to get us back to the right spot.

Guess where we ended up…right back where we originally started when we exited our plane. We were instructed to head to “D” terminal. We followed the signs to “D”.  On our way to our new terminal, we had to go back through customs…even though we had already gone through customs and had our passport stamped. 

After we made it through, we discovered they sent us to the baggage claim. Still believing we were headed to a gate, we kept searching for “D”. Mike ended up seeing a large sign with a “D” lit up. In a slow motion voice, I can still hear him now. T-h-e-r-e is a “ddddddddd” When he got to the “D” it was the place where they keep larger freight bags. I ran back to a baggage service desk almost in tears. I gave him our luggage tickets and sure enough, he said our bags would be on the conveyor belt and we would have to retrieve them.

Imagine, the 5 of us (Brittany included) totally exhausted from running all over the airport, now having to gather all 12 bags, plus find Maggie. I finally found a luggage porter to help. He had a large cart to help us put all the bags on. Little did I know the fee was $36 to have him help, plus a tip for him. In the end it was worth it.

At this point, we are pretty sure we are going to miss our flight. We found Maggie and then again had to go through another customs line. We made it through and eventually made it to a desk where they ended up reticketing us for a flight on Thursday. This was of course after a 3 hour wait.

It is really kind of funny now to think of everything that transpired. Especially since we are still in N. America! We are rested up now and ready for our adventure to begin again on Thursday. The airline has made an exception for Maggie to fly with us (because the cutoff date to allow dogs to travel in the cargo was June 19^th). Unfortunately the temperature is expected to be in the mid 90’s when we depart, so there is always a chance they will refuse to take Maggie because of the heat. Please pray someone would be willing to keep her in the air conditioning until our flight is about to leave. 

Thanks for being a part of this journey with us! We are hoping to be intentional to find the good in everything that comes our way. This last experience was a good "trainer"! I think we are rested up and kind of  more prepared for whatever might come our way!

Lori (for the rest of the family!)

It's Not Good-bye, It's See You Later

We are down to our last day here in the states (at least for a season). It's kind of a strange feeling to wake up and know life as you know it is about to change for an unknown amount of time. We've done this once before, but it was a move from one state to another. Moving to another country feels quite a bit different.

I'm not sure which adjectives best describe the feelings inside of us all. We are all feeling both sides of the coin; the positive and the challenging. The wondering of how long, what it is going to look like, etc is kind of freeing but yet kind of pressing.

We are truly blessed and excited for this adventure ahead. It's hard to say good-bye, so instead we are saying, see you later. It makes it easier for some reason.

We will have close to 100 people coming to serve with SMI in the next 6 months, so we definitely won't be alone. We're excited too because my dad and Becky are planning a visit at the first of next year. Email us if you want to join us for a cup on tea on the porch at Field of Dreams. (tea in Uganda at FOD is a wonderful experience...watching the toucans, enjoying the beautiful pure white birds flow in tandem across the valley, listening to the cows talk to one another and hearing the swooshing of grass being cut along with a few giggles from children across the way.)

We hope to begin blogging regularly once we get our feet on the ground in Uganda.We will head to the airport at 4am tomorrow. We then travel to Toronto Canada, Brussels Belgium, stop in Rwanda and then land in Entebbe Uganda on Tuesday morning west coast time. It will be roughly a 24 hour trip.

We still have some odds and ends to finish up, so better get to it!

Lori

A few pictures of our preparations:

Maggie learning to love her kennel!

Nice letter attached to Maggie's Kennel.

The view from our front widow...gonna miss our roses

Some of our packed bags!

Road Trip! Do As We Say, Not As We Do

Yesterday was an exciting day for us. Sarah took her test to receive her driving permit. We were so excited for this special day. As a proud father, I took her to the DMV with all of the required documents including her passport. As we were signing the official papers for the test, the lady looked at me and said “you know her passport expires on August 7, 2012”. I replied, “That isn’t possible. She has only had it for 5 years!” Well, she was correct. 

For months we've been planning, packing and getting everything together for our big move and journey to Uganda. Not only that, but we even had Lori's passport renewed about a month ago. We have also been working with other team members to make sure their passports are up-to-date and everything is in order. How did we miss this “minor” detail in our own documents. Oh well, it’s just a minor bump in the road, right? We will just go and get it renewed at the Post Office and get it expedited. 

As we left the DMV office and headed to pick up Lori, I let Sarah drive. This was her first time driving on a busy street, so being the confident father that I am, we went the way that would only allow her to make right turns!  It took a little longer than normal but we arrived at the Show Mercy office safely.

After we picked up Lori, we hurried to the Post Office to get Sarah's passport sent off and renewed. However, they told us that it would take 2-3 weeks EVEN IF we expedited it. “What? We leave for Africa in only two and a half weeks. How are we going to get this done in time?” The postal worker smiled and told us there was only one option.....We were going to have to set up an appointment, drive to Seattle and get it renewed in person. Oh my.

So the adventure continues. We are off tomorrow on a road trip to Seattle for a 9am appointment on Monday. God must have something good for us in Seattle. Maybe we will meet a multi-millionaire at the Passport Agency that tells us that God spoke to him to fully fund Show Mercy and the Salley family for the rest of our existence with the money he earned by creating the smart phone.....or maybe there is someone there that needs to hear some good news and receive some encouragement. Either way, we will be living on purpose and looking for God to do something super cool. 

At least we didn’t arrive at the airport with our 20 bags ready to head off and find out that we couldn't board or worse we would have to leave Sarah in Uganda when we came back! 

This is just one part of the journey that will help us to learn to “go with the flow.” It will only get more exciting in Uganda. Let the adventures continue!

Mike