Apparently, this last month just flew by. Kevin got home from his trip, and since then we’ve been busy with end of year activities . . . everything from a quick trip to Edmonton to meet up with family, to soccer, to the footstock races (a 5-K run for the girls – including Mom! – and a duathlon for Kevin), to eMi activities, to father’s day celebrations, to bike rides and playdates. Yesterday, I went in for my last day at the eMi office until September (well – I’ll probably go in while the kids are in camp in August – but that’s a while yet). This morning I volunteered for the kids pancake breakfast and “fun day” at school. And at noon it was officially summer vacation. We grabbed a couple friends and headed to the zoo for the afternoon, and then came home to prepare for the influx of guests we’ll be having in the next week . . . it’s bound to be an exciting summer!
Prayer Letter
Though Kevin’s jetlag hasn’t been nearly as severe as it was last trip, he still isn’t staying up past 10 p.m. these days – which makes life a little bit interesting at home, since I tend to be the night owl anyways! That said, we managed to find an evening to put together our May/June Wiens Wanderings Prayer Letter . . . the email version was sent out last night and we’ll work on getting the print version in the mail for tomorrow. Enjoy the overview of Kevin’s trip . . . and if you have any good suggestions for a Canadian version of the “Pirahna Awards” let us know 
Home Sweet Home!
After 4 days of travel, and three nights in three different countries, Kevin is HOME! He’s tired and jet-lagged (and has already gone to cheer on his daughter at a soccer game). A few of the other team members decided to take the option of spending an extra day in London and will be arriving home tomorrow afternoon.
Kevin usually bring home a souvenir of some sort for the girls . . . but this time he said there was absolutely nothing to be had. There were no artisans, no crafty items in the market, no farmers, no local goods – absolutely everything was imported, including the food. Good thing he has lots of photos . . . I’ll try to get some more posted tomorrow . . .
A blog post from Kevin
Architectural Rendering
It’s been a great week. We got a lot of work done and the ministry is very grateful for the drawings we came up with to portray their vision. The focus of the project this week was an orphanage for 50 kids, a school, medical clinic and a church. The church has 12 acres of very good land at the edge of town. They want to work with the community in that area. A pre-fab medical center is on its way in containers and so part of their vision is already coming to fruition. We surveyed the land, did some soil and water investigation, and met with lots of the stakeholders. We arrived on site on Sunday and were able to present a plan on Friday. This Lutheran church who we are working for has several contacts in Canada and US that we will continue to work with to finalize the plans and help them with fund-raising for this project.
South Sudan has incredible need for any kind of aid you can think of. They have come out of war 5 years ago, but very little infrastructure is being rebuilt in fear that war may break out again in 2 years during the next elections and referendum. They need hospitals, schools, businesses, industry. In Malakal, and most of the south, there was no sizable industry. Farming and raising cattle has even just barely returned since the war. Everything, including nearly 100% of their food is imported with aid money.
The travel to and from Malakal has been very difficult and much longer than we anticipated due to hiccups in the flights. But we are on the way back and are grateful to once again have flush toilets, and to not have to sleep in tents. I’m feeling very anxious to get home, but I still have one more night in London first. That would make 3 nights on the trip home.
Thursday – flew out of Calgary
Friday – flew out of London
Saturday – afternoon landed in Juba
- too late to fly to Malakal
- meet director of foreign affairs
- meet UN civil engineer
- unexpected overnight at MAF
Sunday – charter MAF to fly to Malakal
- noon – attend Lutheran church and see site
- afternoon – learn about ministry
- meet Senator, several pastors, gov’t employees
Monday – survey site, meet with ministry
Tuesday – survey site, civil investigations
- meet with ministry
Wednesday – meet with ministry
- tour Catholic church
- tour water treatment plant
- meet gov’t infrastructure people
Thursday – no meetings
Friday – stake out site
- finalize presentation
- presentation to 6 church members / pastors
Saturday – 8:30 flew with MAF to Juba
- Flight out of Juba postponed 24 hours
- Unexpected overnight at MAF
Sunday
- 1:30 flight from Juba to Burundi to Addis
- 3 hours in Addis airport arranging hotel vouchers and next flight and luggage
- Night in Riveria hotel (4 star!)
Monday (hopefully)
- Fly to London
- Overnight in London
Tuesday – Fly to Toronto
- Connect to Calgary
First batch of photos
Kevin had interet access in Addis, so he sent along a few photos of his trip . . . I don’t know any of the stories behind the photos yet, but I’ve posted them anyways . . . enjoy them here.
Architectural Rendering
Homeward Bound
The team is on its way home! I just received a couple text messages from Kevin, saying he is in Addis (Ethiopia) and will be arriving home Tuesday evening. Unfortunately, the new itinary includes both a night in Addis AND a night in London . . . but hey, they’re homeward bound and I’m happy.
Apparently, the cancelled flight affected TWO eMi teams . . . Kevin’s team was delayed coming home, but there was another eMi team (from the US) stuck in Addis for an extra day when their inbound flight got cancelled. Pray for them as they work to catch up the time they’ve lost.
So, continue praying for a safe trip for Kevin and his team – and pray for us at home. Oma & Opa left today, so I’m sure the next couple days will seem a lot longer for the girls . . .
Flight Delay
I guess it was too early to start praying for safety in travel . . . here’s this morning’s text message:
Flight is delayed in juba for 24 hours. I will send an update tomorrow
Please pray that the extra time the team is spending in Juba will be relaxing, and will give the team some time to “debrief” before heading back into life in North America. Pray that those who have commitments back home will be able to reschedule them without complications. And pray that the connecting flights will be able to be rescheduled without problems . . .
On the home front, we’ve got a busy day today. The girls have a mini soccer tournament (that Kevin would be coaching at if her were home) and Talia has a birthday party to go to this afternoon. Yesterday we spent the afternoon on a long bike ride, and actually had a picnic summer in Bowness Park. Oma & Opa are still here for another day, and we’re doing well. Thanks for praying for us too.
Final Presentation went well
Well, it seems Kevin’s text messages haven’t been coming through as well anymore . . . I didn’t hear from him for a few days, and then received this text message just now:
Great presentation. Will be glad to get home though. Leaving here in 12 hours. See you soon.
But I also just talked to Kevin on the phone, and he said they’re leaving Malakal in a couple hours . . . so I can only assume the text message is a few hours old. Kevin said my messages weren’t getting through his direction either. Oh well . . .
It’s great to hear the presentation went well though. That’s the culmination of the weeks’ work, and it’s usually a pretty exciting time.
I guess it’s back to praying for safe travels . . . it’s about 44 hours until Kevin is supposed to be landing back here in Calgary . . .
Malakal National Hotel
Kevin’s and the team are staying in a hotel in Malakal . . . so I have to admit, I assumed they were in relatively nice digs. Apparently, I assumed wrong. Today Kevin called home and told me that they were actually living in tents! Welcome to Malakal National Hotel. (Kevin just emailled this picture . . . I’m assuming it’s the hotel)
The phone call tonight was brief and rather static-y, but Kevin is still healthy, the rest of the team seems to be recovering, the project is moving forward, the temperatures are over 40 and it looks like the rainy season might be starting today . . . their day is just starting now – pray for good health and a productive day . . .
