Day 16-17, May 1st-2nd: Traveling home...+plans for next year's trip

Thursday in Lusaka involved Blu taking several trips to the airport to take Haley and Kailey early in the morning, Jenna early afternoon and then the 4 of us plus Geoff at night. We had brunch at a place called Mugg & Bean, which had really good coffee. This place was in a mall, which again felt like somewhere in the states in comparison with our time spent at New Day in the African bush. In the afternoon, we were able to go to a market to buy some souvenirs. I did not like the negotiating price thing, but Jason took care of that part so I just looked around to find things I liked. 

Here's Chris walking up to the market area. 

There were tons of paintings, carvings, baskets, jewelry, purses, and more. Some of the people were working on crafting things like pottery and baskets while we were there. Others get these things from people in the surrounding villages to sell.

Each hut place had different people selling items. It was a little overwhelming with so many people trying to get you to buy their stuff. 

We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, and then we went back to the Baptist Mission so that we could all take showers before heading to the airport for our two 10 hour flights to get home. When we got to the airport, Blu helped us load all of our bags (which was at least now only 2 bags each) onto the carts and get into the airport. When we got in line to start the security check-in, Geoff realized he didn't have his passport. So..he had to sprint across the airport parking lot to catch Blu before he left the airport parking to get his passport that had fallen out in the bus. Thankfully, Blu happened to turn the bus around to go out a different exit and saw Geoff running towards him. Whew! 

After successfully getting through security and check-in, we embarked on flight #1 to Amsterdam. This was a red-eye flight so we had all planned on trying to sleep as much as possible....so difficult with at least four toddlers/babies that I counted on the flight. At Amsterdam, we said our goodbyes to Geoff, who was going to Atlanta, and our layover was just long enough for a restroom break (and I grabbed an extremely quick cup of coffee) before catching flight #2 to DFW. We landed at DFW airport around 2:00 pm. Home sweet home! 

Another successful trip for Prosthetic Promises completed! And we pray for many more in the future! 

We are SO grateful for everyone who has made our trip this year possible through prayers, donations and support. Chris and John had this desire to serve the people in Zambia and have carried out two successful trips. We talked often while on our trip about how God is making provisions for this to be a lasting mission with our contacts with surrounding hospitals to be able to reach out further to help those in need by making them prosthetic limbs and eyes. I am so grateful that God has called me to be a part of this mission with Chris and John. 

Prosthetic Promises' next trip---Zambia, May 2015

Plans have already begun on the next trip back to New Day Orphanage in Zambia. The team so far will consist of John Brinkley, Chris Reiff, and myself (Katie Brinkley). We have another prosthetist interested in joining the team for next year, and we will know more in the coming months whether she will be able to go for sure. 

In the coming months, we will be gathering donated parts and purchasing supplies in preparation to ship another crate in November. I hope to make contacts with more practitioners for donated used prosthetic parts to decrease the costs in purchasing. 

We also will be looking for donations of crutches, shoes in good condition, and eyeglasses (prescriptions or readers). If you are interested in donating, you can email me at katie.b.brinkley@gmail.com or visit the Prosthetic Promises website.

Any more posts?---I'll be updating on preparations for next trip. :)

Tomorrow is GO time

John's wife, Robin, has been leading a prayer team email update as the days get closer to our trip. Today is the day before we leave!! So, I wanted to share her prayer team email. Thank you Robin for these emails each day! 

Tomorrow is travel Day. 

I am sure the team is very nervous and excited about everything.  They are thinking, “Did I pack everything?”, “Do I need …..?”.  They have lots going on in their personal lives, well as their work, and this trip.  Through your prayers, the team will be able to endure all their anxious moments.  Continue to pray for the one item you chose.  Remember, praying is the not the least you can do, but the most you can do.  James 1:2-4 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trails, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

God knows our hearts and our words and will listen to our request.  God says in Matthew: 18:20 - For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.   God will hear our prayers and will bless the Prosthetic Promises Team.    God is Almighty   I will keep you updated as I get information.  Thank you everyone for your dedication in praying for this list.  God will bless them as well as you for your prayers.

 

PRAYER LIST: 

1.     Safe / smooth travel - Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go

2.     Safey for Blu to arrive at the airport and then for everyone to travel from the capital to NDO. John 17:15 NIV - My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

3.     Good health / free of illness - 3 John 1:2-Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.

4.     Selection of patients - 1 Thessalonians 3:13  May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

5.     Strength for endurance People are receptive to God’s word through the team’s words and actions - John 17:20 “My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.”

6.     Production/supplies for legs and eyes  Hebrews 6:10 – God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

7.     Families at home – Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. 

8.     Good weather – Psalms 74:16-17 – Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun.  You have established all the boundaries of the earth: You have made summer and winter.

9.     Safe return of the team Psalms 91:14 - Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

10.   The continued growth for those who are new in Christ – Colossian 2:6-7 Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

Long plane rides ahead...OR...

My description of the past two weeks: tired! Things are just crazy busy. Getting things wrapped up at work to leave for 2 1/2 weeks has been exhausting, same for Jason, plus campaign related activities after work and on weekends, and I flew to San Antonio and back today for a board meeting. Whew! And the busiest part comes on Wednesday when we leave for Zambia! That's right folks, our trip is THIS WEEK! The 2 1/2 weeks in Zambia will be lots of work...but sooo worth it. 

Everyone I talk to that has traveled internationally says the long plane rides are just terrible. Well guess what...we have multiple 8+ hour segments of plane travel to get to Zambia and back. Rather than dreading the cramped seats, minimal leg room, sitting forever, turbulence, potential loud children, (the list could just keep going)....I'm going to think of this in a more optimistic light. I have the opportunity on Wednesday-Thursday to take two "micro vacations" in our 8 hour flight to Amsterdam and the 12 hour flight to Zambia. These "micro vacations" will be filled with blissful hours of reading and napping and snacks where I'm not expected to be somewhere or do something. I'm sorry...I can't talk on the phone or read an email or leave the plane...you'll just have to wait. Perhaps being stuck on a plane for that long won't be so bad after all. :)

Fundraiser at Ocker Brethren Church

Last Sunday (March 30th), Jason and I went to John's church in Westphalia, Ocker Brethren Church, for Sunday service and a fundraiser for Prosthetic Promises. Their pastor was out of town so John gave the message, which was awesome to hear him preach! After service, they had a hamburger lunch fundraiser for Prosthetic Promises. Over $3,000 was raised!!...at a hamburger lunch at a small little country church. The members of Ocker Brethren Church are SO generous and supportive. Jason and I absolutely loved that we were able to go to church service and the fundraiser lunch. It worked out so nicely that we had planned to go see my parents last weekend in Clifton, so we were in the area and could attend. 

I want to share with you part of John's message that I found very impacting. (I'm summarizing here, John's version was much better.) He talked about how water is so precious in Africa, how some people have to walk long distances just to get water to carry back for use, and it's not always the cleanest water. In America, water is so plentiful. You turn on the faucet and clean water is there. We never question whether our water is safe to drink from bacteria and parasites. We take this for granted sometimes...actually a lot of times. John used an analogy about choosing clean water versus dirty water comparing clean water to godly things, thoughts and actions and dirty water to hang-ups, addictions and sinful things. If someone had access to clean water and a dirty pond for water, and they chose the dirty water it wouldn't make any sense. The same goes for our choices, thoughts and actions everyday. I can choose positive words and thoughts each day rather than negative...a godly life rather than a sinful life. It just makes sense to choose clean water. 

On a different note, our trip is getting so close! Just 10 days left and it's going to go by fast. We have been so busy between work for both of us, Jason's campaign, our volunteer commitments, and all the community events that go along with the campaigning that it seems like this year has flown by so far. BAM! It's April, and we basically have this week to wrap things up before leaving next Wednesday. On my end, I'm going to try my hardest to have all my patients taken care of and all the paperwork finished up before I leave, so this week will be super busy. I've also started what I call our "packing station" on the guest bed. :) 

Do not be afraid

So you know how you seem to always have dreams about something that is coming up that's making you nervous? Dreams where you aren't prepared..ridiculous ones like you forget to wear pants or something similar. I think I'm really nervous about the trip, because last night I had the strangest dream. In my dream we were at New Day Orphanage, but it was set up like a really large hospital. I woke up and was running late to meet Chris and John to cast patients for the prosthetic legs but I couldn't find my clothes. In my search for clothes, strange things kept happening that prevented me from being where I was supposed to be. When I finally got to the right area in this huge building, I was too late. Chris and John had already finished everything, and I had wasted my whole time looking for clothes and where I was supposed to be. It was just terrible. 

So many people keep asking if I'm getting excited about our trip. I really am excited, but I think I'm may be more nervous. I have a bad habit of letting anxiety get the best of me rather than just letting go and trusting God. A friend posted a song on Facebook the other day and it really hit home. I downloaded it and kept listening to it throughout today. Just need to keep telling myself that God is with me, Do not be afraid. 

Tanner Clark-Do Not Be Afraid

The supplies made it there!

Earlier this week, John sent me a text that our supplies shipped on the crate have made it to New Day Orphanage! The supplies made it...without the crate. Apparently they were having trouble transporting the crate, so they unpacked everything and delivered it that way. The crate will follow later but at least the supplies are there waiting for us. Hopefully all of the supplies made it. 

With just 24 days left, Jason and I are starting to make a to-pack list. Anything we need to take and aren't using now is getting stacked on the guest bed to make sure we don't forget anything. Even when I'm staying somewhere else for one night, I'm always afraid I'm forgetting something. So, two and half weeks away from home...I'm going to be double and triple checking I get everything. 

Tonight is our last dose of the typhoid vaccine medication and we are so glad! We opted to do the oral vaccine versus injection because A) it was cheaper and B) it lasts 5 years instead of only 2 with the injection. It's really specific on how to take the medication. It consists of four pills that you take every other day, with a full glass of water, an hour before a meal, and must be completed at least one week before leaving. Jason has been having nausea the mornings after taking the pill, so he's super glad today is the last day. Next, we have to start taking the malaria medication two days before we leave, during our time gone, and for a few weeks when we get back. 

Radio announcement

Robin (John's wife) is doing a prayer team for the mission. She emailed an update out yesterday. The crate should arrive by April 1st to New Day...yay! Also, a radio announcement has gone out to tell the surrounding areas that we are coming and when we will be there. The local radio station is a major form of communication in Zambia, so the best way to let people in the area close to New Day Orphanage know about the opportunity for amputees to get a prosthesis is to make a radio announcement. Here is what Robin sent out about the radio announcement:

Other news, New Day Orphanage has put an announcement out through the Macha radio station about the arrival of the Prosthetic Promises team. They have been receiving calls every day about leg and eye patients from the radio station.  The team will meet everyone on April 19th at the radio station and assess who can be helped.  Again, many people have high hopes for this service to make their lives easier.  Please pray for the hand of God to make the decisions.  The team wants to help everyone but only so much can be done in their allotted time, so they take the ones that can benefit the most from their work.  The hearts of the rejected people are broken and so are the hearts of the team.

My first thought on reading this: Whoa! Then I re-read it and thought it over more. So...yay! people are getting the announcement and responding, which is wonderful. We will be meeting everyone at the radio station to assess and choose who we can help. When John and Chris went in 2012, Blu (co-founder and co-director of New Day) had met with the people who responded to the radio announcement before they arrived and had already selected who could be seen. I'm sure this was incredibly difficult for Blu, though John and Chris had given him information and guidelines of sorts to help him in choosing who they could help. But now we're going to meet with everyone and decide. Oh the heartbreak! To meet all of these people and hear their stories, and then we may not be able to make a prosthesis for everyone. I pray there will be exactly the number of people who come that we can make a prosthesis for so we don't have to turn anyone away. 

Other news from mine and Jason's end: we finally have all our vaccinations and medications in order. This took WAY longer and was FAR more complicated than necessary. The confusion was mostly my fault for not doing my research more thoroughly, but thank goodness it's done.