Neosho pharmacist risks life to save monkey in Africa...

Jane...I am just kidding. More to come on the headline story after this.

Of course, if you are reading today, you will find that the team has made it safely to the hotel in Kaolack for the afternoon and evening. Our flight from Dulles to Dakar was very good, mostly smooth with only a little turbulence. We actually arrived almost an hour ahead of schedule! Customs was fine, all the luggage arrived (praise God!), and we did not get stopped on the way out of the airport- those nice guys just waved us on by! A smiling Joseph was there to greet us, Mousa and his crew, Charlie Brown and his sister Charlotte, too! (African-American family reunions are always so great!) The bags were swiftly loaded, and the team piled into the vans for a quick stop at the Quakam Business Center for $ exchange, skirt donning, and potty breaks. Soon, we were officially on the road (using the term loosely) headed to Kaolack.

The newbies officially got their initiation into the squatty-potty at the rest stop :)With that out of the way, we moved on the rest of the way to the hotel.

Headline News:

Monkey the pillow attached to backpack travelling at high rates of speed along African highway atop American van; suddenly makes a suicide dive to the road below when large crater encountered by van. Enter: the pharmacist. Like the speed of light, he speeds on foot into traffic, dodging trucks to rescue monkey the pillow, who is in danger of complete annihilation! (and all of Curtis' clothes...) Just in time, pharmacist saves the day, monkey the pillow and the backpack! What a superhero! (Of course, you know by this point that I am being very dramatic, but the story is much more humorous this way!) Any of you who have ever been a passenger along these roads, it is not a stretch for you to understand how the backpack went careening off the van!

Anyway, I will stop being silly. The team is resting, showering, reading, talking, and recuperating. We will meet back up in the lobby for devotion time and game planning in a few hours. The plan is to head out to Sedhiou by 6am in the morning. Tomorrow will be a long day, involving the remainder (and harder portion) of our travel, set up of the clinic in Bamacounda, and settling in at our final destination at the lodge and river house.

We are so thankful to be here: safely, together, with all our posessions, healthy, Spirit-filled, and ready to get started! Please continue to pray for the team, for our safety, health, refreshment, and hearts. Please continue to pray for the African people- those we will touch physically, those we will have contact with, those we will meet along the way, and those we do not. May God do a mighty work through His servants, both here in Africa and our partners in America! We love and miss you already! Thanks for doing all you are doing so we can be here! Again- stay on your knees, don't worry about us...trust GOD! We will talk to you as soon as possible!

Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7