Shannon and Collin's trip to Tanzania-getting there

Shannon and I will be sitting down together to write the next several posts. He will be telling stories from the trip while I type them. I hope you enjoy what he has to share. Shannon say he is sorry it took us so long to get to this but he has been busy and very tired since returning home.

We arrived at the Minneapolis airport and our biggest concern for the moment was that one of the team members passport was beginning to peel along the edge right where the picture was. The local passport authorities had told us she would never even get on the first plane and were concerned she would even try. They said that even if she got through Minneapolis she would never get through Amsterdam. In Minneapolis nobody said a word about her passport. It was a very long flight of about 10 hours. Collin and I were in the center of the plane and I was almost feeling clausterphobic. Finally we arrived in Amsterdam. We had a 4 hour layover there. I was surprised to discover that there was smoking everywhere and the gender signs to the bathrooms seemed to make no diference whatsoever on who one might find inside. I was inside a stall and heard several women and girls come in. At first I thought, "Oh man! Did I get in the wong one? " But I was nearly certain I hadn't. When I came out there was a woman janitor in there cleaning and a little girl changing her siblings diaper. There were the very telling symbols known as urinals hanging on the walls and sure enough, on the outside of the door as I stepped out there was a mens sign.

When it came time to board the plane to Africa I thought the security there was very lax. Not only was there no questions asked about Stephanie's passport but it seemed like we could have taken nearly anything on the plane there. Now it was time for another long flight of about the same length to Kilamanjaro International airport. The airport is located right near Mount Kilamanjaro in the northeast corner of Tanzania. It was a much more comfortable trip. I had an aisle seat and Collin slept most of the flight. We arrived at Kilamanjaro and stayed at the "hotel" right near the airport. The hotel consisted of small hut-like buildings. Each one had two rooms and each room had three twin sized beds. Unfortunately we arrived after dark into Tanzania so couldn't see much. We decided it was time to spread out in our beds and try to get some sleep as we knew we had more travel in the morning. I woke up ready to go at 5:05. Then I looked at my watch again and realized it was only 1:25. I had mixed up the hands. I didn't sleep much after that but I did some praying and the word "impartation" was stuck in my mind and the song, "Your Name" by Paul Baloche and Kathryn Scott. Here is the chorus:
"Your Name, is a strong mighty tower
Your Name, is a shelter like no other
Your Name, let the nations sing it louder
Cause nothing has the power to save but Your Name. "
The song ran through my mind over and over as I waited for the new day to begin.