Stop 1 - Taipei - by Paul

Here we are, sitting in Taiwan International Airport at 6:24 a.m. local time. Hard to believe a short 15 hours ago we were saying goodbye to our family and friends in Vancouver. It was a thrill to see so many people come out to send us off, and for Brian McConaghy praying for the success of this mission. We’ll miss you all.

We all had a good flight. Everyone was able to sleep 3-8 hours, although the sleep was not one contiguous snooze. I did wake up much more refreshed, although by the end of the day, I really felt the effects of my sleep deprivation. Seven hours of sleep over a 48 hour period is not enough to keep me coherent.

We landed in Taipei in clouds and fog, and as I compose this entry, the sun is burning off the fog. Much warmer and humid than Vancouver… I have already stripped off one layer, and looking forward to the heat of Phnom Penh.

Taiwan has very strict laws about importing plans, fruits, vegetables and animals. Check out their ‘drop off your restricted items here’ container. Thankfully I didn’t bring along any pet hamsters.

We found a free Internet booth and most of us checked out the Blog and our emails. It was interesting using a keyboard with four character sets. Thankfully I am a touch typist… I pitty the poor hunt & peck typists. We eventually discovered that we could hook into a wireless network from the airport corridor... so we are all taking advantage to compose our first ‘away from home’ entries.

God bless, Paul

Greetings from Taipei - Richard

Well here we are at Taipei Airport, after a long night on the plane. It is 7 am Sunday morning - what happened to Saturday??
Not feeling too bad - although I managed to sleep on the plane (which was a nice surprise) - I'm sure I could sleep some more.
Barb and I found some decent coffee - so I am all set for a while
We are all in good spirits - but looking forward to getting to Phnom Phen and getting started.

And we're off

Friday night, 11:30pm, and the team, plus family and friends are at the airport ready to go through security.

We are full of emotions - excitment, overwhelmed, gratitude, and profoundly humbled.

Thank you all for your support, prayers and encouragement.

May God richly bless us and the work which awaits us.

Blessings

Marty

So it begins -Jeff

well were just about ready to head off to the airport and i think that it is finally settling in that we are going. We (the team) appreciate all of your love and support to make this all come together.

28 hours and counting - by Grant

So we are just 28 hours away from gathering at the airport to begin the trip. It is a strange feeling because we have been so busy for so long getting to this point but now we are about to begin. Of course so much has already been done by so many people. The support we've experienced from Fairview and from outside of the church has been truly amazing. We truly see God working through this whole process.

I am mostly packed now. My bags have a strange combination of clothes and tools. This is a very different trip than my previous experiences in Cambodia - I am so looking forward to doing this work.