Monday, February 21, 2011

Snow

The road was clear until we drove into Delta Junction (Alaska). We went to Valdez over the weekend to meet with some of our partners and to speak to a group of supporters. We had a wonderful time. It was so beautiful and the drive was safe--all the big animals (moose, caribou, bison and bears) stayed off the road. We did see a lot of tracks but only saw two lonely moose.

We had driven 360 miles on the road to Valdez and the next day we returned on the same road. The drive out of Valdez is just awesome. Those of you who have made that drive know--this is one of the gems of mother earth. The mountains surround you and the sky is as blue as any blue you have ever seen. We journeyed for 260 miles on the drive north. Then we saw the very dark and ominous cloud. It looked evil and sure enough it started dumping snow. A lot of snow--the road was covered and no road crews in sight.

I just slowed down and kept driving. I did not know a winter weather alert was given--that could explain why we only met one vehicle on our side of the road for 100 miles. We finally made it home safe and sound.

Eleven hours later and a nights rest--we look outside and see over a foot of snow on our car. It had snowed heavy all night. It is a part of being on the road.

Monday, February 14, 2011

In America

It happened very fast--one of our trusted staff members is here in the U.S. Hendra is known by many of those who have come to Indonesia on short-term teams. He is a gentle but strong young man.

He first came to the U.S. in December 2009 when he escorted Tison to the Fairbanks. It was really cold and Hendra stayed for two months to assist with Tison's transition. He made lots of friends and was able to share about his vision to start an International School in Halmahera.

The vision and direction of the school has moved forward and today Hendra has a Board of Directors and is a legal foundation. The next step is finding appropriate land then develop the programs.

Hendra is back in Fairbanks. He is here to visit Tison and help with the decision on returning him back to Indonesia. Tison was so excited to see Hendra. He is like a big brother. Hendra will be meeting with the surgeon tomorrow.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Surprise

I went to Los Angeles to support Esther Scarborough, IFC Medical Director and co-founder, as she was going to be the speaker at a group of leaders. She was going to fly in from Kentucky and land at 4 p.m. drive to the meeting at 7 p.m. I did have some concerns because of the bad weather in the mid-west and all the reports of flight delays. She did have a little wiggle room but it was going to be tight.

I got a call from her that she was delayed for an hour. That was going to make it even tighter. Then she called and said the flight was now delayed for at least three more hours. Well now it was going to be too late for her to speak. I called the conference coordinator and he asked me to fill in for her. Esther is an inspiring speaker. She always does a great job and now I was to step in her place. I agreed because I could see I this was the reason I came early.

It was a wonderful time with some amazing people. I did share about our work and got to tell some of the stories of our staff. I was not Esther but maybe Esther-lite. I did fell humble and honored to stand in her place.

Later that evening Esther arrived and was able to speak the next day. She did her usual inspiring message.

This life is always a surprise. I am amazed at the turns in life. IFC got a chance to tell our story and I made several new friends.