We boarded our flight from Phoenix on May 30, 2010 at noon. We had packed most of our belongings into 5 large suitcases which we were going to check. We also had Peyton’s stroller and car seat in which Peyton was fast asleep. My dad dropped us off at the airport and I ran inside to search for some sort of cart to help transport all of our items. We also had our laptops, two backpacks and Peyton’s diaper bag. I was able to find a lone flatbed that was parked against one of the elevators. I brought it back to our mound of suitcases and began to load them up. We finally got everything loaded and I’m sure we looked like a couple of mules hauling everything to get the bags checked. I had taken a gamble and not insured the bags to cut back on costs. It was definitely a gamble as this was all of our life’s possessions that we could fit into the suitcases. We covered the bags with prayer, knowing that God knew what we really needed anyways.
We got to our plane without incident and boarded our 2 hour flight to Dallas. From Dallas we flew to Washington Dulles where we spent the night at a hotel there. We had to pick up our bags and haul them to the hotel via shuttle. It was about 10:00 in the evening when we arrived at Washington Dulles. One of the men who worked for the airport saw that we had a mound of luggage and offered to help us figure out where we were going. I told him the name of the hotel and he helped us get to the place where the shuttles came to pick people up. It was very dark outside on the street as we waited for the shuttle. We gave the man a tip for helping us and he said he would wait with us until our ride arrived. Claire and I were a bit on edge because it was very dark and we had all of our luggage on the side of the street. There were several other people in the shadows and I was very happy when the shuttle did show up. We got to our hotel and settled in for a very restful sleep.
Our alarm went off at 5:00 in the morning and we sprang into action. We fed Peyton some breakfast and poured ourselves two cups of coffee. We had showered the night before and were very excited for the day. We had to recheck our bags at the airport, but this time they would be able to go all the way to Cape Town, South Africa. The previous day we couldn’t check the bags all the way to South Africa because according to airport policy, they can’t have bags sitting at an airport overnight…. Because of this, we had to spend quite a bit extra for checking the bags. We spent 200.00 for our bags from Arizona to Washington Dulles. From Washington Dulles to South Africa the cost was 400.00. In total we spent 600.00 to get all of our stuff to South Africa. We had received an email the day before from Andy and Leigh, our teammates on this adventure, that someone they knew had offered them money for bags. Because they were set they referred them to us. So this individual decided to send us the hundred dollars that they were going to send Andy and Leigh. We are so grateful. God is good!
We boarded our flight from Washington Dulles to New York which took about an hour and a half. We had a couple hours at New York and finally boarded our SA flight nonstop to Johannesburg, South Africa. We were very happy to see that on this flight, there were small television’s mounted to the back of the seats in front of us. On this very long flight, Peyton slept for several hours but she definitely got a bit restless. I can’t blame here she was stuck on our laps for 14 hours and she didn’t know why. Claire changed all the diapers in the plane’s small bathroom. I have an amazing wife. (Please readers, don’t stone me for not changing any of the diapers.) Our seat partner was a young German girl who was very friendly with Peyton and understanding. There was one point that this German girl was sound asleep and Peyton was wide awake. Peyton was sitting in Claire’s arms and was determined to reach out and touch the girls face. With a coo, Peyton squirmed and lunged at the girl almost waking her up. Claire quickly grabbed Peyton and handed her off to me. Claire and I took turns taking walks with Peyton to the back of the airplane and fetching her apple juice. I’m not sure why but she drank more apple juice on that flight than she has in a week. Her diapers were loaded to the max and we were afraid that we might run out. I don’t know if it was boredom or what. We did offer her drinks a lot because she would get a little fussy and apple juice helped to settle her down.
Claire and I were able to catch some sleep while Peyton slept. I personally got two solid hours of sleep, but really didn’t feel like I was too exhausted when we arrived in SA. I remember thinking to myself how good I felt even though I had barely slept. I could just hear the prayers of my parents and friends. “Lord please keep Bryan and Claire alert as they travel, especially when they have to drive from the airport to their home in after such a long three days of travel.” Thank you very much!
We arrived at Johannesburg and had a couple hours until our next flight which would take us to Cape Town. We were directed by someone to a certain gate and began to wait for the flight. I sat real close to the gate not wanting to miss the flight at all. We were sitting with three other people who were also making the flight to Cape Town. Claire was in the bathroom freshening up and one of the girls commented, that she thought she heard our flight for a different gate. I shrugged it off and said that the screen showed us departing from this gate. When Claire came out I walked over to the woman who was standing at the gate next to us and she informed us that the flight was already boarding but at a different gate. We all hurried to that gate and were the last to board. I hate walking on to a plane as everyone is sitting staring at us with accusing eyes for holding up their plane. Praise the Lord that we didn’t miss that flight. That would have been horrible.
(Bryan)
Swag Bucks
Bryan & Claire
We boarded our flight from Phoenix, Arizona at noon on May 30’th, 2010. Claire and I had just said goodbye to my side of the family. They had flown to Arizona for a Flores family reunion. That morning the twelve of us gathered together inside the living room to ask the Lord for His hand to be upon us as we began this life changing adventure. As family members took turns praying for us, tears began to fill my eyes and roll down my cheeks. Each one of these individuals, I had such a deep love and appreciation for. It was love that bound us all together in such a deep connection and it was love that allowed them to give us up. There was no resentment in their prayers, no angry bitterness towards the God who had called us to a distant land. As I stop and consider, I am impressed by what level of real love fills both Claire and my families. Through the willingness to give up their son’s and daughters, brother’s and sisters, and precious grandchildren their actions speak in similitude with Job’s. “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. I’m awed. Their pure love for God runs deeper even than their love for their most precious children.
(by Bryan)
I want to thank every one of you for praying for us as we have faced some opposition during this last hurdle. We have received lots of feedback that you are all praying and wondering how things are going with locating our documents.
The package is still lost in the USPS but we have some better news.
We have been talking with the SA consulate in Chicago and because they were partly responsible for losing our documents they have been very helpful in trying to locate them as well as pulling some strings to go ahead and resubmit an application. They told us that we will be able to submit whatever copies that we might have of the originals we had lost. The head of the consulate is also on the phone daily trying to locate everything else. We are very grateful that they are putting the pressure on the USPS because I think it has a much greater affect coming from officials vs little ol' me. She even told me that she would push for the USPS reimbursing us for any costs that would be incurred because of their neglect... (e.g. airfare changes)
On another note. I thought I had sent my passports in that package to the Consulate in Chicago and they too were lost in the mail. I was so convinced that I never looked for them here at the house. I had checked off on my list of to do's that I had put them in the package with everything else. I was looking for copies of birth certificates, and anything else I might have, to send to the consulate and found all three of the passports in with the papers.... Because we do have them, the Consulate is able to pull some strings and use copies of Birth certificates for this application. (so our mistake became a blessing in disguise!!)
We sent the second application to them last night and it arrived this morning May 21. The head of the consulate said to put her name on it so she could see to it herself. I will be contacting her this morning to find out what else we need to do. I will keep you all posted.
Thank you very much for your prayers. Our plans remain to go on the 30 of this month. I can't tell you how good it feels and how much confidence we have knowing that all of you stand so solidly behind us. We have been encouraged by so many of you shooting us emails or posts on Facebook and Twitter letting us know that we are in your prayers. That means the world to us... and we know your prayers are helping!
James 5:16 The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
Bryan, Claire, Peyton, and baby #2
www.missionminds.com
Hey friends! If you haven't heard the news yet, we are expecting our second child! We discovered this wonderful news on April 29th and are so happy to be welcoming another member to our family. At first we weren't sure how this pregnancy would affect our journey... but after much prayer, deliberation and wise council, we have decided that we will be having this baby without the help of insurance in South Africa. (Our Global Health Insurance won't cover maternity until May 2011) Thankfully, a pregnancy and delivery are actually much less expensive in South Africa than here in the U.S. We are looking at a grand total of between 2,000-5,000 including pre-natal care and hospitalization. We are praising God for this added blessing and the fact that He has made a way for us to have this child overseas. We actually heard of a woman who lives in the states but chose to fly to S.A. to have her baby because she preferred the care offered there!!!
Well, we are "down to the wire" as far as our leave date! Only 12 days until we are supposed to be leaving! Please pray for us because our visa applications are lost in the mail... and have been lost since April 22nd. The last "touch" that shows up on our tracking number was on May 5th in Chicago. We have called multiple postal services and everyone we've talked to seems to simply give us excuse after excuse to get us off the phone. We've been told that we would know for sure on Monday... then Wednesday... then Friday... and so on. But we've run out of time to wait. We called the South African Consulate in Chicago (whose addressing mistake caused the package to be lost) and they are very apologetic and have promised to rush our visa application when it finally does get found. The head of the consulate also has promised us she will be calling the USPS daily until we find this package.
WE DESPERATELY NEED YOUR PRAYERS. We need a miracle right now to be able to move forward. Without those visas, we cannot leave on May 30th. Please pray for us, because in that application are our birth certificates, passports, checks and marriage license. We need this package to be located THIS WEEK or else we won't have enough time for the consulate to process the application and return the envelope to us. PLEASE KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS.
We know that God is in control. We are trusting Him that this will all work out!
Be Blessed,
The Flores Family
We leave the United States in roughly 6 weeks. Reality is beginning to sink in as we realize that everything we know is about to dramatically change. We are excited, scared, curious, and a little sad. But each day we get closer to leaving, we are more and more sure that this is indeed what God is calling us to do as a family.
I (Claire) was encouraged to speak at a church in Connecticut in late March. Even though I only shared with them for a few minutes, I was so blown away by their spiritual and emotional support and their financial generosity. It's fellow believers like that who are our "cheerleaders", affirming us in our desire to follow the Lord.
We want to say a special thank you to all our faithful supporters. You have no idea how much of a daily encouragement you are to us!
Please pray for us as we are in the midst of the visa process. Pray for expediency and favor with the consulate.
Also pray for us as we are still looking for housing in Cape Town. We have the opportunity to live with our teammates for the first month or so, and while we are grateful for that option, we are still looking for a place of our own in the meantime.
Remember to always check out our website for updated information!
May you all be blessed as you pursue God's will for your own life! Thank you for the part each of you play in our journey.
We were blessed enough to have the whole team together for Thanksgiving. At times, it's difficult to be apart during this season of preparation. It was so encouraging to be together and to be able to share some of our hopes, plans, dreams, and even fears with one another.
As we look forward, we know that God will continue to prepare us for this journey He is leading us on.
Waiting on the edge of something is never easy. But the anticipation can either motivate you, or cause you to turn back. Only by God's grace do we move forward.
We are at 20% of our monthly support and 57% of our set-up costs. We are praising God and knowing that He will continue to lead us forward.
Take a look at our website if you have a little time! Bryan recently revamped it.
Blessings on all of you... Thanks for keeping up with our journey! God is good!
We have officially begun the process of transition. Just another reminder that this venture is indeed, a reality! In a week, Claire will be flying to Vermont and Bryan will drive just a week later. We plan to be there with Claire's parents for 2 months and hopefully depart for Cape Town in January.
It's a bittersweet time for us as we say goodbyes to everyone we have spent the past years with. We will greatly miss our friends, family and church body! But as we move forward, sadness is not our tune... we are delighted to be moving into the season that God has ordained for us.
As far as support, we are still at about 10% of our monthly and 65% of our set up fund. We are praising God for the support that we have received and believing him for the rest. In the meantime, Bryan will find work in Vermont to help those numbers increase.
We are so blessed to have been able to live with Bryan's parents for the past month and now to be living with Claire's parents for the next couple months. Both of our families have been so generous in opening their homes to us.
As we walk forward in this journey, we ask for your continued prayers. Transition is never a completely smooth process, but please pray for us that it will be as smooth as possible, especially for 5 month old little Peyton.
Please continue to pray for us as we strive to be trustworthy with what we have been given by God. Even in only having a 5 month old, we are walking forward in this journey of parenting with hearts desires to do it to the best of our ability. We want to make decisions even now for Peyton that will set her up for a life of godliness even now. We also want to hold her with open hands and release her to the Lord knowing that He and only He can protect and sustain her. Pray that we will walk in wisdom even as we parent on the mission field. Thank you for your prayers and for being the body of Christ alongside us!