Friday, July 27, 2012

Rick Pummel arrives in ZA and even provides us some of our first pics

Hello Everyone,

And the hits just keep on coming. Rick has some wonderful thoughts about the trip over and the amazing greeting Group1 received in ZA. Rick has also provided us with some amazing pictures via his Facebook page. "Picture link is at the bottom, you have to read his thoughts first. :-)"



On Tuesday, July 24, the first wave of OAMC members and staff, “Group 1,” left PDX bound for Johannesburg! Unfortunately, a group of 5 members flying in on a connecting flight from Boise had their flight canceled, causing them to miss their flight with Group 1. However, they were able to reschedule with the airline and head on to Joburg the following day, arriving Thursday evening, safe and sound!

Group 1’s route took them from PDX to Amsterdam and then on to Joburg, South Africa. Upon arrival in Amsterdam, the plane stopped a ways out from the terminal. After a while, the pilot announced that we were waiting for someone to bring stairs so we could get out, and then they would bus us to the terminal. That was OK, except that the pilot went on to say that they did not currently know where any stairs were, and they were trying to find some. After a very long while, a set of stairs showed up, and we were encouraged. More time passed, then the pilot asked us all to be patient because even though we had stairs, as it turns out, they were too short. Eventually, they figured out a way to raise the stairs, and we were able to get off. By the time we got off the plane, were shuttled to the terminal, gathered all of our group, and walked to the other side of the airport to get on our next plane, they were ready for us to immediately get in line for screening and boarding of our second flight. And, God is good, we made it, and they didn’t even have to wait for us!

Arriving in Johannesburg, all of us in Group 1 were thrilled to collect all of our luggage at baggage claim – all of us except for Virginia! As it turned out in the end, the airline delivered her bag a day later. What happened was that someone had taken her bag by mistake and left their own. One fears this sort of thing if your bag is one of those black, very generic looking suitcases. However, Virginia’s is hot pink! I can just imagine what the person was thinking when they picked up Virginia’s bag by accident: “Look, there is a bright pink bag! Of course, nobody else in the world has such a beautifully pink bag as I do!”  Who would have thought that having such a unique suitcase would actually cause more confusion than having just another clone!

As Group 1 entered the lobby of the Johannesburg airport at around 10 PM on Wednesday night, wearily looking for the ride to our lodging, our ears were greeted with recognition even before our eyes were. Music spontaneously filled the airport lobby as “Bawo Thixo Somandla” rang out, sung by 20+ members of the South African mens chorus who call themselves “Rise O Man.” Lou, Connie and others were among them, and we instantly felt like we were being greeted by family, even though we had never even met most of them before. Hugs ensued, names were exchanged, pictures were taken, and for a while, time was forgotten. We eventually pulled ourselves apart to go get some much needed rest. And so it begins . . .

Rick Pummel

2 comments:

  1. Lifting up prayers for the entire group to arrive there safe and have a Blessed experience as well as bless others. Rodica

    ReplyDelete

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