I have arrived!!  After a 23 hr trip I am here.  It is Tuesday, October 12th at 4:40pm in Debre Zeyit while I am posting this.  I arrive in Addis Ababa on October 11th at 7pm and traveled 45 minutes to Debre Zeyit.

Let me just tell you how God provided and made a way for me on this trip.  On United Airlines I was permitted to bring 2-50lb suitcases, one carry-on bag, and one personal item free of charge.  From the start I knew that I wanted to bring 3-50lb suitcases so for all of September I earnestly prayed for God to make a way for me to take this extra bag without having to pay the $200 fee.  I ended up taking 4 suitcases just to see what I could get away with.  :)

So I get to the airport and I told the ticket agent that I was going on a missions trip and I wondered if she would waive the fee since everything in the 4 bags was for children (all of my personal stuff was in my carry-on along with more stuff for the children) she said that they don't waive this fee.  I showed her my missions trip letter and then she told me that I actually had two carry-ons with me because my bookbag was too big to be considered a personal item.  She said that she would let it go and not charge me for that bag.  Then I asked her what about the other bags I had.  She asked me to put them on the scale after she weighed them she put 3 of them on the luggage carousel behind her and handed me my boarding pass.  So I was like "I am good with 3 bags?" and she said "yes, have a good trip"!  I didn't ask her about bag #4 because she was so gracious with waiving the fee.

Then I get to my layover in DC and I went to check in for that flight.  The ticket agent asked me if I paid the extra baggage fee for my 3rd bag and I told him no that it was waived because I was going on a missions trip.  He said that they don't waive fees and actually, both of my "carry-ons" were considered luggage because they have a 15lb rule on Ethiopian airlines for carryons so in addition to the $150 he wanted to charge me for bag #3, he wanted to charge me $60 each per carryon that would be checked and placed with my other luggage.  I asked him if he would waive the fee and he tried to call his manager but couldn't get ahold of him.  He refused to give me my boarding pass until I paid the $270!  I told him I would wait to speak with the manager since my layover was 4.5 hrs.  About an 1.5hr later I was walking by him to buy a water and he just hanged me my boarding pass.  So I was like "Are we good?" and he smiled and said "Yes!"  

Talk about blessings.  If I had to pay all of the fees it would have totaled $670!!  Talk about praise the Lord!

Today I toured the 4 partner churches and the school.  These babies have already captured my heart!!  After the internet cafe I am going to one of the three foster houses.  I wish I could write more but others are waiting to email their families.  I just wanted to tell of how God has provided thus far and thank everyone for their prayers.  Lots of love!!