Monday morning in Arusha

Just a quick note to fill you in on our happenings. As most know, half our team left on Thursday afternoon. They arrived home safely. I'm sure some of them might fill in this blog to give you some of their experiences. On Friday morning, Bob, Daryl, Neal and Deanna started their climb up Kilimanjaro. We heard from them on Friday night with a text message that all was well and that it was "incredible". That is the last communication we have had from them. Last evening (Sunday), our tour planner, Adnaan called me. He began his discussion with "Bob has had a bit of a problem with his ?????????" My heart sank, I told him I couldn't hear what he said. He repeated, "Bob has had a bit of a problem with his PHONE". You can imagine my relief! He said all were doing well. They had arrived at the climatization camp. They will spend quite a few hours "resting" and adjusting to the altitude. This is an important stop to ensure summit. They will leave at midnight tonight (5pm Eastern time), traveling rather quickly so as to summit at dawn. Then they will stay only a few minutes and begin their descent. They will not stop hiking till dinner, Tuesday, arriving at a safe altitude for rest. This will be their killer day - so keep them in your prayers.

The rest of of have a much easier time of it! On Saturday we traveled with the Delaughters (missionaries here in Arusha) to the Arusha game park. It is very different than Ngorongoro crater. This new park was in the rain forest and is very green and lush. The beauty of this park is that it has GIRAFFES! That was my goal for this trip and it was so amazing to see them. I have MANY pictures to share with you!!! Sunday was church with Prosper and his new church. It was great. Alphonce, pastor with Haven of Peace Christian Church in Dar is arriving today to help Prosper with his church plant. I'm sure Alphonce will be a wonderful support to Prosper and will be able to describe the "church" from the native perspective. We are excited to see what God has planned for them.

After church we went to do a little shopping and had quite the experience. Leah was driving with just us and we had a little fender bender coming out of "pick and pay". Suddenly, there was quite a crowd that appeared around the "mzungu" (white people) car. That naturally means....money! They tried to help, all with a hand out! We couldn't get Billy, Nafisa or Juzer to answer the phone. We ran back into the "pick and pay" and asked the muslim owner to come (they have become friends with the Delaughters). He did so with no hesitation and helped to argue our battle. The police came and one of them was going to ride with us to the police station. We requested that we needed to return to the house to get Billy, but he refused. Finally, Mary Pat insisted that Bob Huffman (Daryl's dad) needed to return to the house! They have an enormous amount of respect for their elders and we are learning to use that...obviously to our advantage. Once we returned, Mary Pat and Bob went in to stay with the children. I went with Billy, Leah and police to the station. While traveling, Leah texted EVERYONE she knew for prayers. Once we arrived, they talked about impounding the car until it could be "inspected", which could take several days. Billy said he wasn't comfortable leaving his car - those there looked like they truly been "inspected" - stripped! The police officer said to walk with him and look at the damage to the other car, that was a sign that we might be able to negotiate! Billy asked what he could do to avoid leaving his vehicle and they agreed that if he paid the other party $100, it could all be avoided. So it was! Trust me that the other party had much more than $100 damage to his vehicle, but it still was driveable so he would surely pocket the $100 (less what he paid to the police officer)! All was quite an experience...one that we will not soon forget. We returned to the house a little shaken but relieved to have our car! Mary Pat was busy making brownies to drown our woes in chocolate. Nafisa arrived quickly - sorry that she had missed all our calls of panic. She painted our hands with henna, enjoyed brownies and ice cream and popcorn. Not a very healthy dinner but quite comforting!!! Then we played PIT!

Today we are leaving for an overnight trip to the Marangu base camp (Kilimanjaro) to experience a little of the mountain and its people. We will be staying in a hotel unlike the hikers in their tents!! But, we will hike to the waterfalls and caves. I'm sure the Delaughters will be glad for a little down-time with us gone for one night. They have been so welcoming to us!

We will post when we return. Love you all.
Cheri