It was a long flight from Paris to Atlanta and I hadn't actually put together that I was about to have to say goodbye to Abby. We knew that I was most likely going to miss my flight from Atlanta to Dallas, but I had to take the one they scheduled me and knew they'd put me on the next available one. But that meant that I'd have to make a run for it as soon as we hit the gate. With about 30 minutes left of the flight, Abby got out a card and said, "Well, I want to give this to you before it gets too crazy." That's the first time it hit me. Things had been so crazy up to that point that I hadn't remembered I'd have to say goodbye to her too.
I booked it to claim my bags, go through customs, re-check my bags, and sprint to my gate. One of my bags didn't make it, so I was still standing at the carousel when Abby came in. We hugged one last time and took off...her to go see her family & friends...and me to miss my flight.
I called Connie to let her know that I'd be even later...again...and sat alone, waiting for my flight. I was so, so, so tired. So, so, so sad. And so, so, so anxious to get home. And I felt so lonely! It was weird.
I had butterflies in my stomach all the way to Texas, but man was I tired! I landed and began walking to baggage claim, already dreading the hassle of explaining that one of them had never made it to Atlanta...then I remembered that they would speak English!! Yay!
I saw the revolving door that led to baggage claim and I could already see my mom, dad, and brother through the door. I walked straight through and into their arms. It felt even better than when they came to see me because now I was home. Then I saw my best friends, Kristin & Paige, and their family and thought, oh cool, the Lewises came too! Then I turned to my left and saw a whole line of people, a whole line of familiar faces that I hadn't seen in forever. I was overwhelmed with happiness and the realization that I probably looked like a train wreck. I really thought my parents and brother would be the only ones there, but there was person after person that I wanted to just hug for 10 minutes each. It was perfect.
I went and talked to the baggage people in English and my missing bag was delivered to my parents' house the next day. Crazy! When we got to my parents' house that night I just remember thinking that it was so cozy and comfortable and clean and it smelled so good. They'd left Christmas decorations up so that we could have Christmas and it was the most beautiful sight. It was a Saturday night and I knew that if I woke up in time I just wouldn't even be able to stay away from my church, Bear Creek. I didn't set an alarm, though, because I knew I needed the rest. Well I woke up bright and early at 5 am, so I decided to go. It was a good thing, too, because it had been a while since I took a shower, dried my hair, put on makeup, and got dressed to go somewhere. I got in my little Kia that I had missed so much and took off on the 45 minute drive. The roads were so smooth and I could go so fast! I had to restrain myself from honking at every little thing. And in one spot I accidentally started to pass a motorcycle on the shoulder while honking...I realized what I was doing and slowed down and got back on the road.
I finally got to church and...well, honestly, I didn't really know what to do with myself. I found out that I didn't really know how to answer questions about Mali and I definitely didn't know how to answer questions about what I was going to do next. It was a weird, awkward morning, but I kind of loved it.
Friday, September 27, 2013
Paris: 2, Michelle: 0
Abby & I planned a day-long layover in Paris so that we could see a few sights! Our flight from Mali to Paris was overnight so we tried to sleep (we did not, we were pretty riled up). We landed super early in Paris and began this absolutely insane trek through the airport with all of our crazy luggage to an adjoining hotel. Somehow we had a crazy combo of no elevators, not being able to use escalators, and awkward luggage. One of Abby's pieces didn't even have a handle...it had been shrink-wrapped! She pretty much had to kick it through the airport. It was too early to check in to our hotel, so we put our luggage in this little locker room and....well...we actually changed clothes in there too. Good thing nobody came in.
The first thing we wanted to do was go to Notre Dame. I cannot emphasize enough how cold it was. For two years, we'd lived in an extremely hot place. We didn't really have any appropriate "winter" clothes, so we pretty much just had to layer everything we had on. Kind of like Joey when he put on all of Chandler's clothes.
Paris was beautiful. We had a hard time finding the Louvre, but once we did we loved it. We saw everything we wanted to see (very quickly) and even had time for a nap (we were exhausted and our bodies hurt, especially our feet). Then we went back out for an awesome dinner and a little walking around. Great day in Paris. Maybe I don't loathe it anymore (if you don't know why Paris was a recipient of my loathing, it was basically a really really awful awful delay, seen here). I mean it's beautiful, historic, delicious, cold...what's not to love? :)
The next morning we went to the airport 3 hours before our plane was to leave. We went to check in, which was only do-able at a kiosk, and the kiosk told us that we could not be checked in and spit out a coupon for customer service. We went to the counter and were told that our type of tickets (non-profit) needed accompanying documentation. We spent the next 5 hours or so trying to get this documentation (it had to be the original, the ORIGINAL!), trying to get a hold of Mali, and trying to let our people in America know that we were delayed. We had no phones...we left our Mali ones in Mali and hadn't had American ones in 2 years...and were being told that in order to get to America we'd need to purchase new tickets. At one point I had to gently tell myself that I may be spending another night or two in a Paris airport. Finally, FINALLY the Paris Air France office was able to get a hold of the Mali Air France office who vouched for us and pretty much told Paris to quit being ridiculous. At that point we'd already missed our first flight and our next flight was in like 20 minutes. All of a sudden we were golden! Since it was AF's fault, they sent us to the front of every line and escorted us all the way to the gate! We sat down in our seats out of breath and anxious to get home.
The first thing we wanted to do was go to Notre Dame. I cannot emphasize enough how cold it was. For two years, we'd lived in an extremely hot place. We didn't really have any appropriate "winter" clothes, so we pretty much just had to layer everything we had on. Kind of like Joey when he put on all of Chandler's clothes.
Paris was beautiful. We had a hard time finding the Louvre, but once we did we loved it. We saw everything we wanted to see (very quickly) and even had time for a nap (we were exhausted and our bodies hurt, especially our feet). Then we went back out for an awesome dinner and a little walking around. Great day in Paris. Maybe I don't loathe it anymore (if you don't know why Paris was a recipient of my loathing, it was basically a really really awful awful delay, seen here). I mean it's beautiful, historic, delicious, cold...what's not to love? :)
The next morning we went to the airport 3 hours before our plane was to leave. We went to check in, which was only do-able at a kiosk, and the kiosk told us that we could not be checked in and spit out a coupon for customer service. We went to the counter and were told that our type of tickets (non-profit) needed accompanying documentation. We spent the next 5 hours or so trying to get this documentation (it had to be the original, the ORIGINAL!), trying to get a hold of Mali, and trying to let our people in America know that we were delayed. We had no phones...we left our Mali ones in Mali and hadn't had American ones in 2 years...and were being told that in order to get to America we'd need to purchase new tickets. At one point I had to gently tell myself that I may be spending another night or two in a Paris airport. Finally, FINALLY the Paris Air France office was able to get a hold of the Mali Air France office who vouched for us and pretty much told Paris to quit being ridiculous. At that point we'd already missed our first flight and our next flight was in like 20 minutes. All of a sudden we were golden! Since it was AF's fault, they sent us to the front of every line and escorted us all the way to the gate! We sat down in our seats out of breath and anxious to get home.
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| On the train. |
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| The Louvre |
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| Croque monsieur and some kind of latte thing. |
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| Arc de Triomphe |
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| Notre Dame |
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| Eiffel Tower |
Goodbye, Mali
Our last day in Mali consisted of last-minute packing, early check-in at Air France with Nafi, and hanging out at Nafi's house for a pre-flight shower and prayer time. I know it sounds cliche, but gosh, I don't know that I've ever had a more bittersweet moment. We were so excited to go to America and see friends and family that we hadn't seen in 2 years! The last few weeks had been one giant miracle and we were so in awe of God's work. We had already said our goodbyes to our Malian friends, but we hadn't said goodbye to Bryan, Nick, or our co-workers. Throughout those last couple of months our family of co-workers had been sooooo encouraging and supportive. We'd have dinner with them or stop by every so often when we had a little time and they wanted to know everything that was going on. They let us know we were being prayed for and they spurred us on to our work. We felt so rallied around. It was an achy feeling to leave them.
Bryan & Nick were our teammates. We had completed the project together and could not have done it without them. They were our best friends. We worked together, ate together, laughed together, sang together, walked together, picked mangoes together, celebrated birthdays together, sang some more together, and did God's work together. Nick wasn't able to see us that day, but Bryan came to the airport with us.
And then there was Nafi. She had taught us how to live and had cared for us like a mother. She was, and still is, our family and the thought of saying goodbye to her made my stomach hurt and my throat swell. The closer we got to airport time the quieter we were. It was finally time to load up and make the 5 minute drive to the airport. We pulled in, parked, and walked up to the front, where we stood for a while before going in. We were early and it's a tiny airport, so we had some time to stand around. Abby and I were kind of stalling, to be honest. At one point, I could tell that Nafi was getting ready to tell us to go (we've seen her send lots of folks off) so I caught her eye and slightly shook my head no. I don't know what difference I thought 2 minutes would make, but I just wasn't ready. Bryan kept telling us not to be sad, that it would be okay! Geeeez, I'm crying right now just remembering it. Finally we hugged our last hugs and walked inside, got on a plane, and said goodbye to Mali.
Bryan & Nick were our teammates. We had completed the project together and could not have done it without them. They were our best friends. We worked together, ate together, laughed together, sang together, walked together, picked mangoes together, celebrated birthdays together, sang some more together, and did God's work together. Nick wasn't able to see us that day, but Bryan came to the airport with us.
And then there was Nafi. She had taught us how to live and had cared for us like a mother. She was, and still is, our family and the thought of saying goodbye to her made my stomach hurt and my throat swell. The closer we got to airport time the quieter we were. It was finally time to load up and make the 5 minute drive to the airport. We pulled in, parked, and walked up to the front, where we stood for a while before going in. We were early and it's a tiny airport, so we had some time to stand around. Abby and I were kind of stalling, to be honest. At one point, I could tell that Nafi was getting ready to tell us to go (we've seen her send lots of folks off) so I caught her eye and slightly shook my head no. I don't know what difference I thought 2 minutes would make, but I just wasn't ready. Bryan kept telling us not to be sad, that it would be okay! Geeeez, I'm crying right now just remembering it. Finally we hugged our last hugs and walked inside, got on a plane, and said goodbye to Mali.
The Last Month, Part 13: Whirlwind Ending
Brad, Nick, & Abby were in our makeshift studio recording one Story right after the other. It seemed crazy. It was going so, so fast. We had no idea it would go that fast. I sat in the living room at our table...still feverishly updating Excel documents, sending them to Nafi, getting her approval, and telling Abby & Nick what they needed to know. They were going so fast that at one point they were recording the Story right before the one I was working on. I kind of started to freak out. I told God: This is too fast, I'm having to think too fast, it's so fast I'm afraid I'll mess something up. Annnnd He pretty much said back to me: It's not too fast for Me. I got goosebumps at that point. I mean, it's His Word...He determined the words in the first place and He CERTAINLY knows how it needs to be said in Sunny. I just did my best to stay out of His way.
Internet was going in and out and we were bracing ourselves for the event that the electricity might go off. At one point on January 25, our last chance to finish, I hadn't heard back from Nafi about the last 2 Stories. I was going nuts! Finally I texted her and she texted back: Just come open your gate. I walked outside and across our driveway to our gate. When I opened it, there were Nafi and Rita!! Standing there with root beer from America, ready to celebrate! They came in and found Nick & Abby and pretty much wanted to party. Nafi signed off on what we had left, Nick recorded the rest of the Stories, and we sat back and marveled at what the Lord had done. That whole last month was as if God had said, "Alright girls, stand back and watch what I can do."
The Last Month, Part 12: Feverish
We left Tea Village, said our goodbyes to Max's family in his village, and spent the night in Bread Town before driving back home for the last time. All of our Stories were tested and most had been approved for the final recordings.
Those last few days can only be described as feverish...literally and figuratively! We now had 32 Stories that had to be re-recorded for the final draft. We began lining up times for Nick, our story crafter and the man who actually says the Stories on the recording, to come over and record. Another American who was in Mali at the time had agreed to do the technical parts of this process. He had a nice digital recorder and knew how to edit and all that kind of stuff. He wasn't over there with our organization, but we had befriended him and his wife and they were super nice and willing to help. I'll call him Brad.
So we'd lined up Brad and Nick to meet at our house for the final recordings. Our house was a cement block with all tile floors and open windows...not exactly "sound-friendly." Abby and I had grabbed every cushion and pillow we could get our hands on and stood them up on the walls in one of the bedrooms for our little studio. We were ready. I was still updating Excel documents as fast as I possibly could and sending them off to Nafi for approval, so Abby had gone to pick up Nick. Only, Nick never came that day because he was extremely, extremely sick with malaria. So we sent Brad home and did what we could. The next day Nick came, but he was so sick that he could barely hold himself up, much less tell a Story for a final recording. This was January 23. We were to get on a plane January 26...so, you know, we were kind of sweating it. The next 2 days were a blur...
Those last few days can only be described as feverish...literally and figuratively! We now had 32 Stories that had to be re-recorded for the final draft. We began lining up times for Nick, our story crafter and the man who actually says the Stories on the recording, to come over and record. Another American who was in Mali at the time had agreed to do the technical parts of this process. He had a nice digital recorder and knew how to edit and all that kind of stuff. He wasn't over there with our organization, but we had befriended him and his wife and they were super nice and willing to help. I'll call him Brad.
So we'd lined up Brad and Nick to meet at our house for the final recordings. Our house was a cement block with all tile floors and open windows...not exactly "sound-friendly." Abby and I had grabbed every cushion and pillow we could get our hands on and stood them up on the walls in one of the bedrooms for our little studio. We were ready. I was still updating Excel documents as fast as I possibly could and sending them off to Nafi for approval, so Abby had gone to pick up Nick. Only, Nick never came that day because he was extremely, extremely sick with malaria. So we sent Brad home and did what we could. The next day Nick came, but he was so sick that he could barely hold himself up, much less tell a Story for a final recording. This was January 23. We were to get on a plane January 26...so, you know, we were kind of sweating it. The next 2 days were a blur...
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
The Last Month, Part 11: Goodbyes in Tea Village
We arrived in Max's village for a couple more days so that we could get our last Stories tested, and also make our goodbyes in Tea Village. Even though we'd only met these women for the first time about 2 weeks before, the bond was strong and we were sad. We were told that there would be a "ceremony" after we finished our last Story and that the radio station was even going to be there! We had told Max that we planned on compensating these women for their time and he said this was when that would take place.
So we sat around for a little while after giving the women's chief the compensation for their hard work. Everyone was talking and laughing and discussing how good it had been to get to know each other. Then, sure enough, the radio station showed up! The guy had some kind of battery-operated recording machine with a strap hanging off his shoulder and a microphone was plugged into it. He interviewed a few of the ladies and Abby and me! We were on Malian radio...crazy! The even crazier thing is that there's a chance that the Stories could be played on that radio station some day. After we sat around a little while longer, Max started motioning for us to get up and leave. We really didn't want to, but we did because we needed to get on the road ASAP. We were planning to drive to Bread Town so that we could spend the night working on Excel documents before heading back home.
As we were walking to the truck, I looked at Niame and realized she was crying. Then I looked around and saw that several of the women were crying. This totally shocked me! The only time you're really supposed to cry is at a funeral. Women stay completely silent during childbirth. Any time we were moved to tears we always had to dry it up so that they wouldn't see us! All I could do was pray that the truth they'd heard had taken root in their hearts.
We finished our last Story and came out into the courtyard for the ceremony. We sat around on mats with our new best friends in anticipation. As I was sitting on a mat that was across the courtyard from where we'd been testing, I looked up and saw the top of the village m-sque. I looked down and realized that we had been telling all of those Stories about the Jesus Road while we were literally sitting in the shadow of the mosque, in a village that was described by a fellow Musl-m as being extremely Musl-m, with a dozen women with whom we had no prior relationship. God's plan is so much bigger than mine...
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| Waiting for the ceremony to begin. |
In Mali, when you are ready to leave someone's home, you "ask for the road." So we stood up and began the process of asking for the road, saying the goodbye blessings, shaking hands...and in this case...hugging. All the women walked us to our truck in a huge crowd. As we began to walk away, my name twin came and grabbed my hand. In Mali, you have a special connection to your name twin so we had become fast friends. The other ladies literally called us Black Niame and White Niame. It was kind of hilarious. We held hands all the way to the truck.
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| She's kind of adorable. Also, I really had quite the side headwrap going that day. |
We climbed into the truck and started the drive back from Tea Village to Max's village. All the way, Max just kept mumbling things like, "That was so good...this has been so good...so good to those women...so, so good." This from the guy who was so apprehensive on the first drive to Tea Village! God's plan is so much better than mine...
The Last Month, Part 10: Back in the capital
I remember waking up that last morning in Max's village and getting on the road right after breakfast. Abby and I schemed all the way home about what all needed to happen next. Every few minutes we'd try to get a hold of Nick to set up a time to record that last handful of Stories. By the time we got home (obviously after a stop for gas (and bread) in Bread Town (okay, and a Coke)), we had a meeting set up with Nick and had figured out what our next steps were, how they needed to happen, when they needed to happen, when we needed to return to Tea Village to test the rest of our Stories and re-test any Stories that needed re-testing...and when we might be able to record the final drafts OF ALL 32 STORIES. I would like to point out that at this point in time we had 12 days left until we got on a plane. I want you to know that because that's how big our God is.
We got home, unloaded the truck, refilled 20 or so of our liter and a half water bottles, and took the first real showers we'd had in about 8 days. We knew we were meeting up with our teammates later on in the evening for dinner so we sat and really rested for a little while. It was the best feeling in the world. We were both completely and totally spent. Poured out. And for the first time it really started to look like we'd get to finish this project. Again, we knew, we KNEW that God had never promised us that we would get to be the ones to finish it, but we also knew that He wanted us to try with everything we had. We met our teammates at one of the restaurants in town and I wasn't even prepared for the awesomeness that followed. I was already on top of the world, but at dinner all of our teammates were so excited for us, so encouraging to us, and so supportive. And they genuinely wanted to hear any detail that we wanted to tell because they were preparing to do the same thing! I have often thought that if I could choose one day to re-live over and over and over again, it would be that one. Here's a pic of Abby and me from that night. We even put on makeup and fixed our hair! :)
The next few days were a whirlwind of updating documentation in each Story's Excel sheet, meeting with Nick, sending the documents off to Nafi for approval, and packing. Well, Abby was packing. And singlehandedly organizing all of our stuff that was being left behind so that our co-workers could have it. And greeting our friends and purchasing goodbye gifts. It was actually a pretty fantastic picture of teamwork. It never gets old to me...reflecting on the way God put Abby, Sarah, and I together. We are completely different and brought totally opposite things to the table, but when we were all able to work in our element, exciting things happened. I love how God made us each to serve Him in different ways and I love seeing those pieces working together. That's why I love my current job so much! ;)
We recorded the last 4 Stories, and Nafi approved the other 28 for final recordings except for a couple of parts of a couple of Stories (which was awesome because that meant we didn't have to re-test all of them). Our house was pretty much all packed up so we loaded up the truck and we headed back to Tea Village for one last round of testing!
We got home, unloaded the truck, refilled 20 or so of our liter and a half water bottles, and took the first real showers we'd had in about 8 days. We knew we were meeting up with our teammates later on in the evening for dinner so we sat and really rested for a little while. It was the best feeling in the world. We were both completely and totally spent. Poured out. And for the first time it really started to look like we'd get to finish this project. Again, we knew, we KNEW that God had never promised us that we would get to be the ones to finish it, but we also knew that He wanted us to try with everything we had. We met our teammates at one of the restaurants in town and I wasn't even prepared for the awesomeness that followed. I was already on top of the world, but at dinner all of our teammates were so excited for us, so encouraging to us, and so supportive. And they genuinely wanted to hear any detail that we wanted to tell because they were preparing to do the same thing! I have often thought that if I could choose one day to re-live over and over and over again, it would be that one. Here's a pic of Abby and me from that night. We even put on makeup and fixed our hair! :)
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We recorded the last 4 Stories, and Nafi approved the other 28 for final recordings except for a couple of parts of a couple of Stories (which was awesome because that meant we didn't have to re-test all of them). Our house was pretty much all packed up so we loaded up the truck and we headed back to Tea Village for one last round of testing!
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