Back to our story.

We arrived in Frankfort, Germany, with only an hour and a half until our next flight. We had a long walk to the departure terminal, and had to go through security, and even a tram ride. It was fine except for the Frankfort x ray machines were programmed to look for liquids, and even very small amounts of them. In Chicago that hadn’t been a concern at all. Most people had to wait while their bags were examined manually, so the line was long and slow. We got to our departure gate, and Jeremiah went to get our tickets at the desk. Micaiah, Bethany, and Corina already had theirs issued in Chicago, so they could get in line for the gate. The man at the desk seemed not able to even find our tickets, and he worked on it for a while as the clock ticked down to boarding. The lady there told us that our luggage was on the plane so they would not leave without us. I wasn’t real concerned, and thought they’d figure it out! A Kenyan man was causing a ruckus on the plane and a group of policemen came to remove him, so the stress was high behind the desk. Our family just waited. The man assisting Jeremiah was on the phone talking in German, and finally he just gave up. “I have done everything I can, and Lufthansa needs to figure out this mess. You will miss this flight,” he said. Jeremiah asked when the next flight was scheduled. “There is one in 2 hours. It stops in Egypt for a layover, but you have to go to the Lufthansa desk to have them work on this issue.” Jeremiah asked if someone would inform our son about the change, and he came back to us. This didn’t seem like much fun.

Jeremiah went to the Lufthansa desk which wasn’t far away to get help, and we sat on the floor with our stuff. Several of the children went to sleep with their heads on their backpacks. I sat there trying not to fall asleep as I watched people pass. The chaplain of the airport (didn’t realize that airports have chaplains!) came and chatted with me for the longest time. She was sweet, but I was so tired I thought I might fall asleep as we talked. She brought a bag of supplies and goodies: fleece blankets, water bottles, peanuts and Mars bars. Wow! After a long while Jeremiah came back to the first desk, and then told us we needed to head back to the terminal where we had come in (and through security again). And, there was no way we’d get the flight through Egypt, because it was boarding right now. We had to wait for tomorrow morning’s flight to Nairobi! That sounded very exhausting with children, but my first thought was about our covid tests. Would they still be good in Nairobi when we arrived? It would technically be more than 96 hours since we were tested by then. We finally got our boarding passes at the official United desk to leave the next morning, and settled down in a sitting area where we hoped time would pass quickly. The lady behind the desk was so kind, and pretty annoyed that we’d been left behind. She gave us a big bag full of supplies and a few goodies. There were water bottles, pillows, blankets, candy bars and a few snacks. She also gave us food coupons to use inside the airport. It was in euros, but amounted to $19 for each of us. Wow again! We laughed once more about how we “spoiled the Egyptians”.

Our "gifts"

Melita meeting a little friend at the bakery.

Eating our late lunch.

  

By now it was 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon, and we could not (as American citizens because of covid) leave the airport. We were supposed to fly around 11am on Saturday. Everyone was quite hungry, as our breakfast on the last flight had been only yogurt, and a hard roll. So we checked out the nearest (and only) food option in our terminal. It was a bakery (European style) with an array of bread and dessert options. They had pizza sticks, and sub like sandwiches, and soft pretzels covered with bacon and cheese. It was tasty, but everything was very bread heavy. We didn’t use a lot of our food coupons, and felt pretty content until 7pm. But when we went back to the bakery, it had closed at 6pm! Okay…. I have to admit that I fed my children peanuts, water, and candy bars for supper that night.

The play area was very plain, but it was a diversion anyway!

  We kinda hoped that the airport would at least quiet down for the night. No way! That was when the construction crew arrived, and they happened to be working right outside our sitting area – replacing the slatted ceiling. Thankfully they ran the table saw down the hallway a bit, but it was noisy the entire night. Each person found their most comfortable option for sleep, and quite a few of us spent large portions of the night awake. Melita was quite fussy and thought she could not sleep here. She begged to go back home. I told her, “We can’t. It is far away.”

“No”, she said, “we get into our van, and drive, drive, drive to our house.” She wanted her bed so badly. To help her settle, I dressed her in her pajamas, gave her the special pink teddy, and sang to her. I even slept beside her, though it wasn’t comfortable at all for me. She really is excited about going to Kenya, but she wanted her bed so badly that night. She finally asked me with a beseeching, almost desperate look in her eye, “In Kenya, will I have a bed where I can sleep by myself?” I assured her that she would, and she slept for a few hours at least.

Besides the construction noise, there was a loud speaker announcement every 20 minutes (the children told me it was that long. I thought it seemed like every 10 minutes!). First in German, then in English. “We would like to ask you for health and safety of all passengers, to please wear a mask at all times inside the airport.” We all wore them, except for the 2 youngest (for them it was only part of the time). Funny thing, I kept seeing large groups of policemen in the airport, and wondered why they were there. I thought they seemed quite friendly, so they didn’t bother us. In the evening, Jeremiah was talking to Andrew Musumba on the phone to let him know what happened, and they were having a hard time hearing or understanding each other. Jeremiah pulled his mask down to be heard better, and one of the passing policemen motioned to him to cover his mouth. So, that is what they were doing?! I also heard a confrontation between a policeman and an older traveler during the night, and it was pretty rough. Our time there was not bad, but VERY LONG. The clock just moved so slowly. 

    

  

 

 

  

It was a very LONG night.  
Here are all the ways to sleep in an airport!  That's Jeremiah under that blanket - protecting the luggage as he sleeps. Actually, it was no worry, because some of us were awake all night!

 The next morning, we had a very hearty breakfast from the bakery, you know, we had to use those food coupons! (BTW the bakery started their morning baking at 2:30 am. We could smell the pizza sticks in the oven as we passed to take Melita to the “playground”.) Thankfully it wasn’t all bread either. We each had a big yogurt parfait! The cream cheese danish was the BEST! We finished out our breakfast with some coffees and cappuccinos. Everyone felt quite satisfied and happy, and we only had 3 hours to wait until our flight.

Everyone was thankful to eat, and our time was coming to an end here!

 

Ready to board the plane finally!

 

 

Several of the ladies behind the desk had looked at our covid tests and assured us that they’d still be valid, but it didn’t really make sense to me. I didn’t rest over the issue until we were boarding our flight to Nairobi. I figured that Kenya wouldn’t turn us away then. They told us that they figure that all arrivals on the 23^rd must be tested no sooner than the 19^th, which is when we were tested. We were so thankful! We’d heard that tests inside the airport would cost over $300 each. Really, our delay didn’t cost us anything but time, patience and trust! Our flight to Nairobi was peaceful and joyful. We were so glad to be on our way.

  

So thrilled to be on the plane to Nairobi!

 

When we landed in Nairobi we got to walk out of the plane, down a stairs and across the parking lot to a tram. Jeremiah thinks it’s inefficient and barbaric for the Joma Kenyatta Airport to unload like that as it feels like you’re being taken in a back alley, and that airport was only remodeled a few years ago. He thinks they could have done better. But to me, this is Africa, and I love it. The only bad thing was that my face was covered in a mask and my hands were full, so I couldn’t SMELL Africa when we arrived. Matthias and Cherith pulled down their masks as we got to the line and started taking deep breaths, then we all did it, so happy that we had actually made it here. 

 Paperwork for arrival was a breeze after all we’d been through.  We'd heard a lot about how Kenya was different because of covid, and everyone was afraid.  We had time in the line to watch people, especially the airport personnel.  Yea, they wore masks on their faces, or chins, but they certainly weren't careful about it. Half the time they didn't cover their noses, and they shook hands all around as they always do.  It felt like Kenya!  What a relief.  And we had no check in luggage except for the 1 piece that had been lost somehow. Micaiah, Bethany and Corina had to deal with the other 21 pieces of luggage the day before! Andrew finally found us, and took us to the hotel where we would sleep.  We were thrilled to visit with Andrew, and be reunited with Micaiah, Bethany, and Corina.  It was WONDERFUL to finally lie down on a bed. Melita was especially happy to have a bed to herself, and she took a bit to arrange it before she could sleep. We all slept well, and even got some showers, though towels were sparse.  Each of our rooms had only 1 towel, either a bath towel or a hand towel.  It felt great to be clean anyway.   TIA(This is Africa!)

     

We have arrived!  What joy!!

Melita enjoying her own bed!  

Leaving the States - Part 2

 Okay, so the writing part of this is the easy stuff, at least for me!  Thanks to Jeremiah and Bethany for helping me with the publishing part.  I am pretty illiterate when it comes to computers, and really try my husband's patience. But hopefully I will get better...

Back to our story -  Monday the 18th we spent doing laundry, extra cleaning, paying last bills, and making stacks around the house of things which needed to go.  School books for 3 months, food stuff, clothes, and mission stuff.  We have a HUGE pile of mission stuff.  Part of it is due to a project called "Days for Girls" that Corina heard about.  Some of it, I think, is due to ladies sitting home for months through Lockdowns and keeping their hands busy sewing.  So this is the first opportunity that they have to send it!  It's a good thing, really.  The guys ran errands, and printed off our Kenya visas in color, as we were directed.  We knew we had to go to bed early, and so some of us did.  The guys on the other hand stayed up until midnight enjoying Micaiah in Michigan.  

Micaiah and Matthias carrying the fish tank
down to Grandpa's house on Monday.

I knew that Tuesday was going to be a doozy.  First thing, our crew was all dreading the covid test, partly because we had never had it, and partly because we'd heard all the horror stories of the test gone bad.  At 2:45 am our first alarm rang.  Jeremiah and Micaiah left to go to White Cloud at 3am (45 min.) to pick up Jeremiah's mother, and take her (an hour or so) to Grand Rapids for her surgery appointment at 5:15 am.  I didn't sleep well at all.  I guess I just didn't trust my alarm to go off at 6 am.  I had arranged the appointments with the oldest ones and Bethany first, because I didn't need to sign for them.  So Jerusha, Matthias, Cherith and Bethany left at 6:40 for the Shelby Hospital lab.  I got the younger ones around, and we left shortly after 7.  When we arrived at the hospital, I was checking in, and our first 4 walked out - all done. They were grinning gleefully, and I asked them, "How was it?" 

"It was great!" Jerusha said.  "It was a SPIT test!"  There were grins and fist pumps from all 4 of them. 

I was relieved in one way, but suddenly I started panicking. What if this wasn't the right test?  How would we get another one?  I had already tried to make sure of this.  I turned immediately to the receptionist who I'd just been talking to, and asked "Is this a PCR based test?"  She looked blankly at me and picked up her phone to ask the question.  After consulting, she turned to me and assured me that it was the PCR test. Hallelujah!!  That lightened the whole thing considerably for me.  I couldn't imagine the "behind the nose test" for Melita...

It took a half hour or so to do the paperwork before we were ushered down the hall to the lab.  I texted Jeremiah to make sure he was coming, because he and Micaiah were right after us.  The test went easily enough.  Melita watched us all for a while, and then started spitting into her "test tube".  The staff left us alone, and it was kinda like a party, everyone laughing and wishing they'd at least drank some water before they left the house.  Talk about a dry mouth!  After that we all headed back to the house to make breakfast, and lists of work for the day.  Bethany and I filled out the forms for our guys' international driver's licenses.  We were going to get them in Grand Rapids.  The guys came, and we made our final plan for the day.  After a while, Jeremiah and I left for Grand Rapids.  I was feeling bad, really behind, because Mom J. was suppose to come out of surgery at 10:05 am, and it was after that before we finally left the house.  

We thought we understood from Mom J. that only one person was allowed in at a time, but we could take turns seeing her.  That was why I decided I ought to go, though I had a zillion things to do at home.  Once I got on the road, it was really nice to be with my husband; it felt relaxing amid the stress.  We made several business stops on the way, including getting a cell phone for Mom J. and finally got to the hospital around 12:30pm.  We found out that Mom J. was still asleep from her surgery (I had no idea it took so long to wake up!), and only one person was allowed to go in, period.  Uggggg.  I have to say, I felt pretty defeated.  We decided to go find the AAA office to get the international driver's licenses as we waited for her to wake up.  

The rest of the day went pretty well, though we did some backtracking because we don't know Grand Rapids.  Mom J. was so happy to see Jeremiah, and had a good report from surgery. We were so relieved about that, and she was properly surprised at her new phone.  She'd never had a cell phone before, so he had to spend time telling her how to use it.  They called me in the parking garage as I sat in the car, so it was nice to chat with her that way anyway.  On the way home we shopped at a couple of stores for some last minute things, including more totes, and some luggage pieces.  We have just worn ours out through our travels!  It had started snowing, and in some places the roads were really slippery; but mostly it was just slow driving.  We got home at 8:45, and I was thankful to find a clean house.  (Good job, guys!)  One of the girls asked if I was going to start packing. "No way," I said, "I am too tired to start that this evening."  I cut all the guys' hair, and we finally went to bed.

On Wednesday the 20th I woke up early and cleaned out the fridge, then we did packing, and more packing.  The children hauled our turtles and dog to Hosanna's house (sniff, sniff), and brought the box trailer that we would use for hauling our luggage to Chicago.  Hosanna came over, and it was nice to work with her, and see our sweet Talitha.  Everybody was super excited, for sure!  In the afternoon most of the covid tests results came on our phones. They were clear.  Celebration!!!  Later in the evening we made some phone calls and figured out that Jerusha's app hadn't been activated, but her test was also in and clear.  Matthias's test still wasn't in though.  The Noecker girls made supper for us, which was so kind of them!  I just couldn't think of cooking with everything else going on in my mind, and the meal was delicious!  Several people stopped in to say goodbye throughout the day, including the Horst family in the evening.  That was so nice!  They helped to load most of the luggage into the trailer, and even the children helped.  

Thursday morning we were trying to fit the last things into the last pieces of luggage.  That always takes longer to do than you imagine!  How many times can you weigh one piece of luggage?  And these they had to stand on the scales and hold, so it took some math skills!  Matthias was the only one without test results, and he finally got a report on his app.  - "Invalid".  What?  A phone call assured us that he had to have another test.   "Oh, God!  This is just too much!  How were we going to do this?"  My mother had offered to serve us breakfast, and we had suggested a time of 9:30.  We finished everything, said goodbye to our house, and got to my parents' at 10:10 am.  Mother had a good breakfast waiting, and we tried to focus on eating, amidst all the excitement.  We said goodbye to everyone, being careful not to say anything extra to Great Grandma.  No one wanted to upset her, because she really doesn't like goodbyes!  

My dad praying for us before we left for the Airport.

Grandpa is going to miss sweet little Talitha!

The trip to Chicago is 4 hours, and it felt very short this time.  Everyone was excited; Carleton and Clayton were along to help with driving etc.  For the first hour I tried to relax from the work of the morning.  After that, I was busy making sure we had everything in line for our paperwork.  Micaiah and Bethany were on the phone with the airline as we drove, because their flights had been cancelled.  I was rather oblivious to it, because I was busy with my own stuff.  I started filling out the Health Surveillance Forms for all 9 of us.  We rode with Seth and Hosanna in their car for a while and wished for time to chat, but we had to focus on our business. In the back of our minds, we wondered how we were going to get a covid test for Matthias in Chicago. 

We arrived at the airport at 1:15pm.  Suddenly Jeremiah realized we hadn't stopped for lunch, but we figured maybe this was better.  We ought to get our paperwork in line before we take time for food.  Our flight was scheduled to

 leave at 6:35pm so we ought to have time, right?  We parked in a far out parking lot because of the trailer, and it took a bit to get all the luggage inside, but Jeremiah and I were focused on the paperwork.  We got to a kiosk where you can check yourself in, and found an airport attendant to ask questions about what they required for each thing.  She heard where we were headed, looked at our covid tests, and was on high alert.  She was sure this wasn't right, so she called another lady who looked and said, "We need name, CPR test, and date.  No, I don't see a date on this. You need more information."  They told us where we could find a print shop. When we asked the first lady about getting a covid test for Matthias, she was very pessimistic, and pretty much told us that we might as well reschedule our flight right now.  "It takes 2 to 3 days to get results.  There is no fast covid test that is CPR."  She was an "in your face, animated personality", and your only choice was to nod and agree.  We told her thank you, and then discussed it ourselves. Jeremiah looked sunk, really overwhelmed.  I did not believe her because our midwife had just last week tried to go to Kenya, and she did several tests, one (15 min. one) at an Urgent Care, and it was PCR.  

I knew we had to divide and conquer to get all this accomplished, so I suggested that Jeremiah go with Micaiah and Bethany to get the copies made, because they needed copies of their covid tests also.  I said I would go with Matthias  to get a covid test, and we agreed that we should ask Seth to be our driver.  I have no good sense of direction, but I was trusting Matthias for that one!  How would we even get back to the parking lot to find Seth?  I started making phone calls to Urgent Care offices nearby, asking if they did the CPR test.  The first one didn't, but she was very helpful, and gave me another name. I called that number and finally talked to a person who assured me that they did the CPR test, but the line was an hour out.  I told her we were coming.  We wandered around the mammoth O' Hare airport until we got out on the right level, and into the parking lot.  Thanks to our phones Seth found us, and we got Google Maps directing us to the right place. I was grateful it was only 10 min. away, and wondered what in the world I was doing. I thought, I am totally out of my comfort zone. When we arrived at Physician’s Immediate Care, we walked into the entry to register ourselves in line. We had to talk through a mike in the cubicle entryway, and it was very hard to hear, especially since we were all wearing masks. My voice isn’t loud anyway, and I was shouting! She told us their line was 1 1\2 to 2 hours out, and the test would cost $240 cash. She acted like she was sure we wouldn’t do it. I didn’t see any other option, but said I wanted to call my husband. Jeremiah and I agreed to go ahead with it, so I returned to the mike to shout our decision. Such a weird world we are living in…. The receptionist asked for name and phone number, and we shouted the information, then went to wait in the car. There, I received a registration form to fill out. At least it was something to do to pass the time… They spelled Matthias’s name ‘Mapphias’(due to shouting into mikes with masks?) . That HAD to be corrected; I can’t give reason for the airport to reject this test. I sent a text back. Does a person actually read these texts? Jeremiah asked in text, “Any hope of getting in sooner?” I wrote back, “All our hope is in You, Lord!”

Melita likes her pink mask.

An hour and 15 min. after checking in, we were called in for the appointment. It was now 4:20 Chicago time. A nurse attended to us promptly, and took Matthias’s blood pressure first. She took it a second time. “It’s a little high”, she said. “Are you nervous?”

“Just worried about making our flight”, he grinned.

“Oh, you will be okay”, she said. She did the test, which wasn’t bad, but a little burning. We asked how long it takes to come back, and she said “15 to 20 minutes”, and she left the room.

We sat and waited. It felt like an eternity! We watched the clock – 20 minutes, 25 minutes. Jeremiah asked, “Any word?”

“We’re waiting,” I said. “Going crazy!” We heard talking outside the door. “The test is negative,” the voice said, and they were talking about printing documents. I looked at my watch. We fly in an hour and 35 minutes. (Pretty sure security closes an hour before the flight.) Talk about ‘praying without ceasing’ this entire afternoon… At 5:02 pm we raced to the car with the coveted document in hand.

The rest of the crew waiting in the
Chicago airport for Mom and Matthias.

Seth drove us back to the airport and (of course) it was rush hour, so it took a bit longer. Seth wanted to be able to say goodbye, and Jeremiah was pretty insistent that he bring us to the door, because time was so short. So he stopped at the door, and we rushed inside. Hosanna was on her way out with Talitha, and I said goodbye to them first (in a daze. How short this day had been!) then she went out to be with the car by the street. We gave quick hugs all around then went to check in. The airport personnel were so kind and encouraging. Everything was in order, and we were so THANKFUL!   Our family of 9 got to security as the guards were saying “Only 10 more minutes til we’re done here.” “Oh Lord! You are good!” Everything went well there. Before the gate they checked our passports, tickets and QR codes for the Health Surveillance Form. We were on cloud 9, there were still people in line, and everyone was friendly. We met Micaiah, Bethany, and Corina ready to board and then we had a Hallelujah worship service right there at the gate!! We couldn’t help ourselves. What a miracle God had done for us!! We boarded with only a few minutes left. God is good!

As I sat on my plane seat trying to breath(through my mask)and relax, my head was just pounding. I realized that my stomach was really empty. We were just so THANKFUL to have made it. I was so thankful for Seth, Clayton, and Carleton's help. I told Carleton when we were saying goodbye, "God knew we needed everyone who came down today.  We were on the plane for an hour before they served us supper, and that was okay, because I was finally able to eat. I realized, and Jeremiah said the same, that we hadn’t had anything to eat or drink (not even water) since Mother’s breakfast 10 and a half hours ago!

Well, there’s the story of leaving. I hope it wasn’t so long and nitty gritty that it was boring. I just felt I had to tell it, so you understand the struggle, and our feelings about being in Kenya!