On June 24th, we left from Kilimanjaro Airport
for a visit home. The first two parts of
our trip were on Qatar Airlines by way of Doha, Qatar and Frankfurt,
Germany. The final leg was on US Air
from Frankfurt to Philadelphia. Because
of our almost 13 hours in layovers, we saved half the cost of the trip. To us, this was well worth it and also gave
us a chance to see Kenya, Somalia, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain out the
plane windows. We have never seen so
much sand in our lives!
Qatar Airport is very nice, with lots of shopping and two
cordoned off areas to nap in lounge chairs.
There is even a men’s mosque and a women’s mosque in it. Most of the people working in the airport are
from somewhere else…..India, Korea, the Philippines and probably many other
places. The departures board listed
flights to places we never heard of.
We were so happy to reach Philadelphia and be back on US
soil. Of course, there was still a bit
of culture shock with all of the traffic, sights and sounds of Philly.
The high points of our trip were spending time with our
family and friends and being home for the Fourth of July. Anyone who has not enjoyed the down home
America experience of July 4th in Riverton, NJ just doesn’t know
what they are missing!
When we came home in November, we did not get to see
everyone we wanted to. This time, we did
much better. We enjoyed many meals out
with friends and family, and visits at their homes. It was a great chance to re-connect with
those we miss so much when we are here.
We enjoyed being at our home congregation, St John’s
Lutheran Church in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia. It was wonderful to hear the Word in English
and to receive Holy Communion with our brothers and sisters there.
July 14th we went to speak at August Lutheran
Church in Trappe, PA. Augustus was organized
in 1730 and was the church of Henry
Muhlenburg, first Lutheran pastor in America.
During summer months, they worship in the old building, which was built ibetween
1743 and 1745. It
was incredible to stand in the place where Muhlenburg stood so many years
ago. It was very nice meeting the people
of Augustus, whose mission includes care of such a remarkable piece of history.
Another high point was a day spent at Hospitality Creek Campground
in Monroe Township, NJ. We had a
trailer there before we came here and loved going there most weekends during
the camping season. We spent the day
with two of our children and their spouses and four of our grandchildren. We played in the lake, pool and the
children’s activity pool. We also had a
chance to visit with friends at the campground.
Also, while we were in America, we attended the Summer
Missionary Conference of the ELCA held in Kenosha, Wisconsin. We decided to drive there in order to see
some of the country (and to save some money, too). The trip was beautiful and we also enjoyed a
couple of days in Chicago before the conference. We will write more about this in a separate
blog posting.
All in all, our visit was great. It gave us so many wonderful memories to
think back on now that we are here again in Irente. We were so warmly welcomed when we
returned. When we arrived at our house,
we were greeted with bouquets of flowers and songs of welcome. No one could ask for a better reception.
We thank God for the opportunity to be in America and for a
safe return to Tanzania.
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