Trip Overview (beginning to end)
Here is what the trip will look like if everything goes as planned
Here is what the trip will look like if everything goes as planned
Monday, March 5 - Malaria Monday – Take your Malaria medication Let me know if you have any side affects.
The standard recommendation for anti-malarials by the CDC in Atlanta for travelers coming to PNG is Mefloquine Lariam) 250 mg weekly. This should be started 2 weeks prior to exposure and continued for 4 weeks after exposure. Someone who is taking a medication in the class “Beta Blockers” cannot take Mefloquine. Beta Blockers are used most often for treatment of hypertension or coronary artery disease. Be sure to check with your doctor, as some medicines may be restricted in certain medical conditions.
Monday, March 12- Malaria Monday – Don’t forget.
Wednesday, March 14 – 7pm – Meet at church and pack totes for conference and trip. Also get preliminary weight of our suitcases and carry on bags. Labels assigned and customs sheets filled out for each tote, luggage and carry on assigned to you.
On your international flights you will be given immigration and customs forms to fill out before landing. They will ask for your name, date of birth, passport number, expiry date etc. It is a wise idea to write this information on a card that fits in your wallet, especially for families. That way you will not have to go through all the passports to find numbers and expiry dates or figure out birth dates when you are tired. We should have one of these filled out for you.
Friday, March 16 – 7 pm - You need to have everything packed at ready. I will be contacting the airlines Friday morning and making sure everything is on schedule. If the schedule should have to change – we need to be flexible enough to adjust accordingly. All last minute stuff should be done on Thursday night. Our last trip got moved up at the last minute – so we want to be ready for the same thing.
Saturday, March 17 – Our flight leaves at 3:15pm. We would like everyone to be in Omaha by noon. That means at noon we would like to be checking every tote and luggage. Yes – I realize that means we will be waiting almost 3 hours (2 ours is recommending or International Flights)– but it is Saturday and if we miss this flight – it makes us miss every flight. You need to plan for everything – I will be leaving Hornick at 9:00 and be with my family in Omaha before the trip. We will all have cell phone numbers. If you are on the road any later than 10 am– you are pushing it! Understand if you are late – I will have to make a call based on the whole group and the missionaries we will be serving. I do not want to leave anyone – but I will do what is best for the whole trip – this is not about you!
Saturday, March 17 – After leaving Omaha – we arrive in Dallas, Texas. We have 50 minutes between flights. We will get off the plane and go immediately to the next gate. When we disembark – we meet as a group outside the gate and then head to the next gate. Go to the Restroom on the plane or after we arrive at the departure gate. You can ask the previous team – I move quickly if flights are close. In the past we have actually had some people run to the next gate so they can hold the plane for us. We won’t leave you – but you need to make sure everyone knows where you are.
Saturday, March 17 – After arriving in LA – we will leave the domestic terminal and head to the international terminal. We have almost 3 ½ hours between flights, but we will get into the international terminal before we grab something to eat. The problem with LAX is the pan handlers. Just stay together as a group and don’t spend time talking to others. Unfortunately – you will have to be somewhat rude if approached and keep moving. Just don’t make eye contact and keep walking and they will not bother you.
Saturday, March 17 – we get on the plane at 11:55 pm. This is where you will want to start getting some sleep. Even if you cannot sleep on the plane – close your eyes and relax. You will be informed of exercises they suggest – do them. Get up and walk around – go to the restroom – or just stand up for a little while. Their will be plenty to do – you will be able to listen to music, watch movies, or read a book. Be careful of caffeine and drink plenty of water while on this flight. Just so you are not concerned – this plane may stop in Aukland, New Zealand. Everyone will get off the plane and they will clean it, reload fuel and food. Some new people may get on, and some may get off at Aukland. The airport is nice and it is an opportunity to buy some small souvenirs. This may be the only stop here – so this would be the only chance. Remember – whatever you buy – you will have to carry throughout the trip – so be careful – you have a lot of trip in front of you! After about an hour – we will get back on the plane and go to Australia. When we land it will be Monday morning at 6:45 am
Monday, March 19 – we have about 3 hours in the airport in Brisbane. You will find this a very nice airport. This will also be the only time you are in this airport. We will relax and enjoy some down time while waiting for our next flight. I suggest anytime you are in an airport – you walk. You will have plenty of sitting time in the planes. Sometimes, we will find an area out of the way and lay on the floor with our legs on the seats. This gets your legs elevated (helps swelling and circulation). It is not about looking good – just getting there as comfortably as possible.
Monday, March 19 – at 10 am we get on a plane to Port Moresby. We arrive at about 1 pm. When we arrive in Port Moresby we will get off the plane and take care of 2 things. We will get our Visas. There will be 2 lines – one for people with Visas and one for people without. We will get into the line without Visas. In this line, I will tell them we have Visa’s and are with New Tribes Missions. They will collect our Passports and place a Visa inside of them. We will also get our luggage at this time. We will enter an area for customs and will be asked some questions about what we are bringing into the country. Your sheet will tell you everything packed in your tote and suitcase. After this we will leave the international building and walk over to the domestic terminal. At this time it looks like an official from new tribes will meet us. Our luggage will then be checked into a domestic flight to Hoskins.
Monday, March 19 – We will leave at 2:55 and fly to Hoskins on a short 1 hour flight. When we arrive at Hoskins – Aaron & Butch should be there to meet us – they will have supper ready for us that evening and we will get settled. Typically the sun sets in PNG about 6:30 pm and rises at 6 am. This is where you will start to get confused on times. Do not be surprised to find yourself wide awake at 1 am in the morning – that is about 9 am Iowa time a day earlier. You will adjust – but the first few days are goofy.
Tuesday, March 20 – The missionaries will start arriving at about 1pm on Tuesday. We will help them get stuff set up for the conference. Everyone will get familiar with the facility and we will get a better idea of some of the jobs we will be doing. Here is a basic breakdown at this point
2 meals – Lunch and Supper –
- Cheryl helping will be assisting – Joy (?) Gloria & Michelle wioll also assist during crunch times. On Friday morning – we will cook a men’s breakfast / Friday night – Ladies night out Lunch is scheduled for noon / dinner at 5pm
- Music – Chad will be working with Jaap (Involve morning & evening)
- Sports – Jared – 3:30 – 5:00 Wed-Sat working with Aaron, Henk Shannon Kesinger for the family water games. Shannon can set up his slide.
- Elementary – PJ will be teaching through a series on Moses in the Morning / Junior High – 7:30 – 8:30 – Aaron will be teaching Jr High students / Senior High Students – 7:30 -8:30 – PJ will be teaching Sr High Students
- Maintenance - Chuck & John – There will be a number of maintenance issues that you can assist with throughout the conference.
- Computers – Jimmy & I will be teaching a workshop one afternoon. Jimmy will also be assisting people with computers. If they decide network facility – John and Chuck will run cable.
Sunday, March 25 – We are scheduled to leave Hoskins at 11:05 am. We will fly to Rabaul with Aaron & the Kunzers – short flight. At Rabaul we will go to the market and purchase some food supplies (great experience – I will but cokes!) we will then get on 3 boats and head to Bom. You will need to make sure that you have garbage bags to place your suitcases in. We should only have 2 or 3 totes plus our luggage. If the seas are rough – another missionary organization has a guest house where we can spend the night. We could then leave on Monday morning.
Sunday, March 25 – We should arrive at Bom about sunset and will get situated. Cheryl will be at the Kunzers and the rest of us will stay with Aaron. The Jackson’s and the Bainbridge’s will have their own room. The rest of us will camp on the floor and couches. Guys – if we have time – we will head to the creek for a quick evening bath. You wear your shorts; take a towel, and a bar of soap. Girls can use the showers in the houses. We will start work by Sunrise on Monday morning.
Monday, March 26 – The gals will be working on helping get meals ready and spending time with Tammy and the girls. If we need your help on projects, we will ask – but any “down” time is to be spent with the Kunzers. They need this fellowship and we want them to feel very special during this time. Guys – our main focus is the boat. At times we will need all hands – other tines it will only be a few of us. I have a manual on basic fiberglass principles and a 7 minute video – we will all watch so we know what to expect. There are numerous other small projects – which are not small to them. What they ask you to do may seem insignificant – but there is no insignificant project to them. Everything you do is one more thing off their schedule so they can spend time in the tribe!
Aaron and Butch will schedule some things for us while we are on the island. You have to make the call whether you want to participate. Remember – if you push it too hard – we loose you for the whole week – so don’t be afraid to stay back. You will be safe in the house and if you need to crash or heal – this is the time to do it with minimal impact to our mission. Many of the guys opted out of certain activities – so they could work the next day.
In the evenings – we will try to snorkel on a few of the days. After snorkeling – the guys will head to the creek and the gals to the showers. We will then assemble for supper and fellowship after we eat. Please understand that fellowship is very dear to these people. They want normal – therefore you will laugh, joke, cry, play games, anything they want – we want it to be like family. Love those kids and give them plenty of hugs – this is the only time they will get it!
Thursday, March 30 – This is our last night on the island. We will probably be getting the boat read and help Aaron get his house locked up for the next few months. We will be leaving early about 4 or 5am on Friday morning.
Friday March 30 – we will get on the boat and travel to Rabal. If the weather is nice – we may stop for about 15 minutes to snorkel over a couple of tanks that were sunk in WWII. Upon arriving in Rabal – we will get into a van and go to the airport with Aaron. We leave Rabal at 10:20 am. go to Port Moresby then to Sydney, Australia. We arrive in Sydney at 8:25 pm. We will gather our luggage and then go to a motel for the night.
Saturday March 31 – We will leave the motel and fly out of Sydney at 9:45 am. Aaron will leave earlier than us on a different flight. We arrive in LAX at 6:05 am and Aaron arrives about the same time. This is the best time to sleep and try to get as much rest as possible. Your body will start to catch up with you at this point. You have run off of adrenaline for almost 2 weeks and your body decides to rebel. Everyone will start to get a little on edge – so understand – it will have been a great 2 weeks – but we have also seen enough of each other by now. Upon arrive in LAX – we will have to go through customs. We will be asked a number of questions about where we have been and what we have done – just be polite – it is usually a long line.
Saturday March 31 – Aaron will now head out on a flight to Denver, then Kansas City. We leave on an 8:55 flight to Chicago. The online deal has your flight stuff wrong – Our tickets take us to Chicago – then Omaha. We arrive Chicago at 2:50 pm and have a 2 hour layover. At 4:40 we leave Chicago and get in Omaha at 6:10 pm.
Sunday April 1 – This is Palm Sunday so people in the US are thinking about Easter. We are going to have a service in the morning and talk about the trip. If all goes well- I will have a slide show ready – if not – I will have some pics. Most of it depends on how much jimmy & I can get done ahead of time.
Monday April 2 – Malaria Monday
Monday April 9 – Malaria Monday
Monday April 16 – Malaria Monday
Monday April 23 – Malaria Monday
Some reminders
• You will find yourself pretty tired the first week after the trip. Many people will want to talk to you about the trip – try to keep evenings free to sleep and get your body adjusted to the time. DO NOT push yourself the first week back – give yourself time to get adjusted.
• We will have a de-briefing meeting after the trip. The cultural adjustment is something we need to talk about and it will impact you! You may bring your family with you to that meeting
• Any pictures you have developed from film – ask for a digital CD – I will pay for it and use it to give everyone a copy of everyone’s pics. That way we all have pictures that we are all in.
