Alison and I drove straight through to Austin after we left Bush International in Houston. I called Adrienne to let her know I was OK and contacted Kevin to report on the last day of the clinic and our Saturday. He told me about his trip home and the wedding, as well as The Sound of Music at Redeemer and how everyone felt Jack was a budding star. I decided to worry about getting the footlockers back to the church in the next day or two, so we could drive straight to my place, where Alison had left her vehicle. It was a struggle to remain alert for the last 15 miles or so. The jet lag can really be crushing. We arrived at my house about 7:30 pm, which is 4:30 am in Nairobi.
I put the footlockers in my garage, moved my luggage into the house, got a hot shower, added a few lines to the blog and then crashed about 8:30 pm. I actually did pretty well for a first night back and slept until 3 am. I'll probably make it until 4 am tomorrow morning and finally 5 am or so on Wednesday morning, which is pretty close to my usual routine. My 16 year old cat was very unhappy with me for being gone so long, but she finally calmed down around midnight. I really thank my good friends Jom and Kathy Binneboese for wathcing my house, getting the mail, feeding the cat and taking care of cat box duties while I was away. It takes a village...
I planned on taking today to decompress a bit and get a work schedule laid out for the rest of the week, as well as doing mid-month invoicing. ATT had a different plan. I looked through my snail mail and had received a letter stating that if I didn't pay a past due amount by November 13th, (which has been in dispute since June and which ATT has admitted was charged in error), my service would be cut off. They were true to their word. No Internet, no phone and no TV when I got up. It took exactly one hour and five minutes on the phone with a very nice lady in Pakistan to get it turned back on. It's kind of hard to run a computer repair business without a phone or Internet connection! I was promised it would be taken care of, but I've heard that now for 5 months in a row. The disputed charge for equipment I never ordered and had returned right away is the gift that keeps on giving. ATT has a record of receiving the item, but can't seem to remove it from their account system. My agreement is up in February and I WILL be shopping around.
I also changed my credit card info on a half a dozen vendor and service accounts that I have auto-pay options for. I found another $600 divided among 4 fraudulent charges on the cancelled credit card account and spent more time on the phone with Citibank about those items, three were at Autozone and one was at O'Reilly Auto Parts on November 12th, right after the legitimate charge was made at the restaurant in Nairobi. What a mess...
I did learn through Alison that the Salem teams arrived in Houston with very few team leaders, but managed to get all of their footlockers and luggage OK. Also, Paul, Kevin and Catherine had been able to get out of Nairobi after all on Saturday night and had traveled back to Houston by way of Germany, arriving as the Salem teams finished getting their baggage. Thank you Jesus! I guess one of the themes of this trip was leaders getting separated from their teams. In each case, everyone picked up the slack and it all worked out in the end.
Keep an eye on the blog, I'll be adding more stories and pictures for the foreseeable future. The team is all thankful for a great clinic, it was well worth the challenges we overcame. Seeing old friends and making new ones, serving the people of Kawangware and spending time in Nairobi far outweigh any inconveniences. Plus, we have some stories now and it will all look funny after a while! As usual, I'll let the trip sink in for a few weeks and will right a final reflection on what it meant to us. That is easier after a little time passes and we have a different perspective. Thanks again for all the prayers for a successful mission and for our safety during our travels to and from Africa.
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