Settled

We left the Malaga airport, but only after spending almost 2 hours trying to locate 3 of our bags. Mostly it was supplies needed for crafts and activities for the young kids. Pray for those to arrive in a timely manner and creative ideas to flow for those volunteers.
Our destination is a beautiful, tucked away place. Several buildings are complete in their development and some are not. There's a lovely pool where the 40 kids, all ages, are having great fun! Sleeping and showers are dormitory/camp style - separate buildings.
There are olive groves everywhere.  They provide an amazing view!
Photos: room where I'll be spending most of my week; view from balcony; sleeping arrangements; showers

A quick night in Madrid

We flew out of London at 7:30pm.   We got to Madrid at midnight, went through immigration, and caught a ride to our hotel (for a 5 hour rest).  It was a long day - enjoying London. Yet another day with skipped meals, no luggage, and unknown details.  Rae is an incredible leader as he comforts the group, provides information, and is constantly on his cell phone making it all weave together.  He is so calm and a great example to keep us looking to what God is going to do next.

My trusty backpack!

A day in London!

Rae got a call early this morning that our flight to Madrid (4:40pm)was cancelled. Not sure why.

We decided to continue our plan to sight-see around downtown London. Rae talked with the airlines while we rode to Buckingham Palace (got an 8 passenger taxi). They moved us to the 7:30pm flight, but it would stay in Madrid and we go to Malaga in the morning.  Plan B changes to Plan C.

London was amazing! We walked about 8 miles. Our path included Buckingham Palace, a beautiful park (lots of Sycamore trees), Big Ben, the London Eye, and Windsor Castle. What a treat!! I played around with my selfie stick. 😀

At lunch Rae decided to follow-up on our flight information. Good thing he did - my name was put on a different flight. There were no spots left on their flight. He gently continued to talk and God worked it out through him.

24 hours after arriving in London we are all sitting together at our gate ready to go to Madrid.

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace

Peggy, Jodie, Kelli, and the "Bobbie"

Our Room - London

buffet dinner - Yum!

We checked into the hotel in London just in time to still catch the dinner buffet.  We were very hungry.  All we had through the day was Rae's "snack bag".  Thank goodness he packed more than his usual mission trip packing.
The food was delicious, the rooms were very nice, the hot showers felt amazing.  Due to the flight delays all the checked bags were not with us.  Everyone had additional carry-on luggage with clothes and toiletries ... except for Peggy and I.  She had her purse and I had my backpack (thankfully I had an extra pair of underwear and my toothbrush/toothpaste).  We did some washing in the sink.

Rae's snack bag

Buffet dinner plate

London room

Standing in the Queue

The flight to London could not have been more smooth! It was as peaceful as I prayed for!

It was a double decker plane - lounge seating for first class, and 10 seats across in main cabin areas. There were 6 sections of passengers. Most of us slept off and on through the 11pm-4am timeframe.

Due to the 90 minute boarding delay in Phoenix, and needing to wait on the ground for our gate in London, we missed our connecting flight to Malaga, Spain. We stood in line for 3 1/2 hours to get reservations for the next flight (tomorrow at 4:20pm, connecting through Madrid), and to reserve a hotel for tonight. Then we stood in line for 1 hour to go through immigration. Then we stood in line to get a taxi. Then we stood in line to check-in at our hotel.

However, through it all we have sensed God's protection and provision!  (Just to list a few.)

• We don't know why our plane was delayed but He gave us a great flight and our time of waiting at the airport was on solid ground.
• When reserving the hotel rooms there were only 3 rooms left at our hotel by the time the ticketing agent clicked the keys, the guy in the line next to us had gotten the 4th one we needed just seconds before.  The agent asked him if he would be willing to go to another hotel - he happily said yes.
• In the immigration line, there was a carry-on bag left all alone. Someone in line behind me tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to tell the attendee.  They ended up tracking down the owner, and police were brought in.

We have now had dinner and gotten to our rooms. Plan B for tomorrow, in London, has been made. We are looking forward to this "bonus" time of sight-seeing in London!

Long line in Heathrow Airport

Taxis lined up

Ready to go

Here's our team! Our flight is delayed about 90 minutes. Will leave about 9pm. We will have to be fast in London to get our connecting flight, plus passport check and security lines. Very possible we'll miss it. But, we are all together.

Had some dinner here and are getting caught up and acquainted.

 

Packing

Staging is done. It's time to load things up ... and see if it fits. Clothes are easy! I have a decent amount of food (just in case GF isn't available.) Supplies will add up quickly.
We leave tomorrow evening at 7:30pm (Phx time).

The invitation

My friend Kelli has been signed up to go to Spain with Rae Larson's group for a few months.  During prayer request time at Home Fellowship on Monday night (6/13/16) Kelli mentioned a need for more volunteers.  They needed someone to take care of the teenagers during the conference.
Matt and I began praying about one of us going - probably me, since it taps into a spiritual gift of mine.  God had already given Matt a furlough from work, the same exact week, so things were looking positive.