Well - after nearly 96 hours of travel we finally made it. We had quite a time of it:
Emma was sick starting a few days before and through most of the travels - she got a bit better each day. Thanks for your prayers!
Olivia developed a bad allergic reaction to we don't know what. What looked like bug bites while in flight to Port Moresby ended with an nearly entire body hives that night in Moresby. She was itchy and couldn't sleep - I finally found another traveling missionary with an allergy tablet and she finally got to sleep.
We had planned an overnight in Port Moresby and then onward to the US. Unfortunately we had a long delay causing an extra overnight both in Fiji and in L.A. but the airline took care of everything and it was nice to have a bed both nights.
The last flight I finally got to say to a stewardess, "I am a doctor, can I help?" A young man had intense abdominal pain (possibly appendicitis) and I took care of him and talked to the airlines medical service by the inflight phone. Upon landing in KC, they had an ambulance waiting. It was an exciting way to end our very long journey.
Despite the length of the journey the Lord was with us at every step and we were constantly aware of His presence. I had a couple opportunities to share with people on the journey and pray the Lord will bless the seeds planted. Often in my life I have felt some sort of pressure to get out the entire gospel message but it always seems forced. Lately I have seen that the things that stick with people are the things that come from the heart and connect at their point of interest. If you start right into a gospel presentation it just seems you want to shove your ideology at people, but if you are genuinely concerned about people and what they are thinking, dialogue quickly comes into meaningful conversation. At the end of about a 5 minute conversation with one lady, literally as we were walking off the plane, she said how she felt her life was shallow and she wanted to find real meaning (inferring to what I had found in serving God and others).
We were blessed to get off our last plane and find Gail's family waiting there. They also brought with them coats from Fountain Valley Church of the Nazarene, one of our Colorado LINKS churches. We had a great Christmas time with my family and then Gail's, we opened gifts from family and from churches as well. What an outpouring of love! Thanks to everyone, especially our wonderful Colorado LINKS churches!
It has taken awhile for Olivia (2 yr) to get used to all this - not only travel and new people but clothes. She really hated shoes (in PNG she wears "Crocs" or is barefoot), pantyhose, and wouldn't wear a coat. As you can see she is adjusting and has found that a coat and shoes let you build a snowman!
We are looking forward to seeing many of you in our travels. Blessings in Christ.
Scott