Author Archives: Matt

The Great Floreen Roadtrips! Part 2

by Matt

Day Three of the Roadtrip! After spending the night in Portland, we headed up through Seattle to Lynden, WA, almost on the Canadian boarder. For a couple of southern Californians, the scenery and weather was so refreshing!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 1
969.6 miles: Fairfield Inn at the Portland Airport, the beginning of Day 3.

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 2
Somewhere around 975 miles: Mt Hood!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 3
Somewhere around 1000 miles: look at all the trees!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 4
1112.1 miles: Lunch with Austin and Heather at their apartment in Tacoma, WA. Heather and Rachel worked together at the college, and Matt did photography for their wedding about 5 months ago. It was so great to catch up with them!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 5
1117.3 miles: stop for a fill-up at the Port of Tacoma

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 6
1147.5 miles: The father of a good friend of ours – Sarah DeWolfe – is in the VA hospital in Seattle, so we stopped by to say Hi. He had JUST left for an appointment though, and the nurse said it would be a while before he came back. So we missed him. =(

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 7
1157.1 miles: On a whim, we stopped by to see the Sound and Pike’s Place in Seattle. It was cold!!!

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 8
1157.1 miles continued: Pike’s Place. Just for fun, we bought a couple honey sticks here. =)

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 9
1157.1 miles continued: We found a large and fascinating antiques store near Pike’s Place. Among other things, they had quite a bit of antique photography equipment…

Roadtrip 1 Day 3 10
Our final tribute to Seattle – a pic of the Space Needle. It quickly grew dark, so that was the end of the pictures for Day 3.

Day 4 is Rachel’s first introduction to Matt’s hometown, and Day 5 is Sunday and our presentation at Grace Baptist Fellowship in Lynden. Stay tuned!

The Great Floreen Roadtrips! Part 1

by Matt

The Great Floreen Roadtrips have begun! We have had a great couple of days on the road, covering a lot of highway, and connecting with some great friends. Here’s our pictorial journal…

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 1
141.3 miles: Our first stop on the trail – a visit to the Exxon tiger.

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 4
330.9 miles: End of Day 1 and beginning of Day 2 – Our second stop was to spend the night with Adam and Shannon Chiappelone in Walnut Creek. We love this couple and so enjoyed spending time in their home again! Shannon and I worked at The Master’s College together, and Matt and Adam were roommates years ago, so we go way back with these two!

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 5
450.7 miles: Seems to be a reoccurring theme already… we needed more gas.

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 6
But! At this gas location, as the sign informed us, even your dog likes it here!

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 7
515.8 miles: Lunch!

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 8
530.6 miles: Now this was an interesting stop. You can see from the shiny pavement that it’s been raining. It rained all morning and a couple hours into the afternoon. Ah, the Northwest! But this little building is the Australian hat outlet. There was a big kangaroo sign on the freeway advertising it, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try on a few Australian hats. =)

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 9
771.2 miles: Dinner at Taco del Mar!

Road Trip 1 Day 1-2 10
959.1 miles: Our last stop for the day – Dan and Karina Franklin’s home. We had all over lapped at college, so it was fun to catch up with this great couple and hear about the ministry they’re involved in now. We were blessed to hear about the church they’re at and encouraged by their prayers for us! Thanks Dan and Karina!

Off to the hotel, and end of Day 2. That’s all for now – more to come soon!

An All-Nighter!

by Matt

Over dinner tonight, Matt and I decided that tonight would be a good night to pull an all-nighter. Because… the movers are coming tomorrow! They’re doing the packing (so that they can certify the contents as a third-party); however, there’s still a lot to do! Things like…

1. find all car titles/registrations/etc. so we can sell our cars, all 2008 tax info, all identification, passports, and tickets – don’t want that paperwork to get shipped to Africa in the containter!
2. set all liquids aside to be packed separately, and definitely remove all flammables
3. back up Matt’s hard drives (so all those of you who have pictures with him can know that there will always be a safe copy here in the States)
4. pack in our 4 “suitcases” what we want with us for the next 3-6 months while we wait for the container to arrive in Lilongwe
5. hide in the closets all items that we don’t want the packers to pack up and clearly label the closets “DON’T SEND TO AFRICA!!!”
6. inventory everything we own for insurance purposes

That’s all that I can think of off the top of my head, but I’m sure there’s more to do!

And here’s what it looks like around here right now…

1
Storage items, office supplies, sewing projects, photography equipment, and then everything else you need to make a home a home! It’s a mess mostly because we pulled everything out of the closets to use those as storage for items not being shipped in the container.

2
What we’d like to keep with us for the next 3-6 months, so will need to “hide” from the packers. Figuring this out was a little complicated, as we’re traveling in the next couple months to Washington State, Kansas, and Colorado – so we need cold weather clothes – and then we’re moving to south east Africa – so we also need hot weather clothes!

3
Meet the ActionPackers. These containers are just barely under airline size regulations for what you can check as luggage, and being simply made of thin but very durable plastic, they’re really lightweight. Bottom line: you can max out on weight and size with these containers. We’ll pack 4 of them full of whatever we’d like to keep with us here in the States and then travel with us to Malawi.

4
And no, this is not how Matt is getting to Malawi. =) But this nifty little “Pelican case” will carry his hard drives in the container. Pelican cases are rated to be guaranteed forever in every circumstance, with the exception of three circumstances: shark bites, bear attacks, and children under the age of 5. Hmmm. Just to make sure, when the case arrived, Matt threw it on the ground and stomped on it. Good to go!

We’d appreciate your prayers in the next couple days as we move out of our apartment and life becomes very different for us. The changes are all good, and we’re excited to walk in faith these coming months, but we know that your prayers are important! Pray for our faith and endurance through this move, and pray especially that we would learn to love and serve Jesus more because of it! We’re excited to have you partner with us in prayer through this adventure, and many more to come!

10 Weeks… and it begins

by Matt

We are 10 weeks away from departure! Our tickets to leave LAX are for Friday, March 20, so the clock is ticking! And a lot is happening around here.

We received a lot of counsel both from people here and in Malawi that our best option by far would be to pack and send a container of our items to Malawi. We soon realized why – it’s difficult/impossible to purchase many home items in Malawi (like a couch, a mattress, a filing cabinet, etc.). With this in mind as we set up our home here in California over the past 10 months, we tried to strategically purchase only items that we would take to Malawi. We budgeted and searched and have finally come to the place where we think we have almost everything we need.

And just in time, because we’re moving! Yesterday a representative from an international moving company came to do a survey of everything we want to ship to Malawi. That meant we had to have everything we want to ship to Malawi – and only those items – present and visible in our apartment. We got everything out of storage, we pulled things out of closets, we sorted out items that aren’t going with us and hid them in a closet, and we stacked everything else all around our apartment…

Items from storage (Thanks again for the truck, Gary!):
Packing 1

Items pulled out of the closet:
Packing 2

Stacking up around the house!
Packing 3

An international move is a funny thing. Apparently you can’t pack the boxes or the container yourself. So all those wonderful friends who keep volunteering to help us move – you’re off the hook. =) There are homeland security laws and customs regulations now about who packs the items and how they’re packed, so the moving company does it all. Hypothetically this will minimize customs and quarantine time too, but who are we kidding – we’re just planning on it taking up to 6 months to reach Lilongwe.

With the moving company survey done now, we’re waiting for their estimate before we book a time to pack and load. Likely it will be the end of next week, or Monday/Tuesday of the following week. Our goal is to have it packed and out of the apartment by the 21st when we leave for The Great Floreen Roadtrip, Part 1. More on that to come soon!

As I look around this apartment that I’ve grown to love as our first home together, I can’t help but think that this is just the beginning. We leave our home here in the States, but we look forward to setting up our next home, our home for years to come, in Malawi!

A Little Piece of Africa at Home

by Matt

As we come within 3 months of moving to Malawi, our African Violet has decided to celebrate with us.

African Violet

And yes, we are within 3 months of leaving. March 20th – that’s what it says on our one-way tickets to Lilongwe, Malawi!

But right now we find ourselves preparing to celebrate Christmas with Matt’s family in Camarillo. As you rest, enjoy family, and take the time to do special things with those you love, our prayer is for your greatest joy. May you find your rest and your joy in our Savior Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!

Rest and Plans

by Matt

As we hit the end-of-the-year holiday season, we find ourselves – along with everyone we know – very busy. It’s a good sort of busy – people, parties, gifts… and plans for Malawi. We’re both quitting our jobs at the end of this month, so between now and then, we’re training replacements and trying to tie up projects. And then there are moving plans. We’re shipping some things, so we’re looking for a good shipping company and trying to estimate when we need to get that in process. We’re also catching up on things like dentist appointments. Last month we both visited the dentist – Matt got away with just a teeth cleaning, and I had two small cavities filled and a crown. Not only that, but I get to go back this coming Thursday to have 2 wisdom teeth pulled. After that, I’m not going back for at least 2 years… maybe 4 years.

Dentist 1

In the midst of all this, we had a great conversation with some new friends, Aren and Trina. We met this couple for dinner just before Thanksgiving and had such an encouraging time with them. Among many other things, we talked about rest. Here are a few thoughts I’ve had in light of that conversation and other conversations Matt and I have had:

  • We’re really looking forward to a slower pace of life in Africa!
  • Frequently (at least for us), rest comes when we are humble. If we think it all depends on us, we don’t ever rest.
  • Rest doesn’t mean doing nothing.
  • Rest is essential, for our bodies, our minds, and our spirits.
  • Matt needs more sleep than I do.
  • I need more sleep than I think I do.
  • We can do things to help one another rest.
  • Rest is a gift of grace.

As we go through these busy times, we’re also trying to rest. We know we have more busy days to come, but God has given us the opportunity to function within the framework of time, and with bodies that need rest. As we try to steward this rest now, I do have to say that I’m looking forward to the day when time is no more and our bodies don’t need rest! But until then, we’ll run hard and sleep well.

Dentist 3

We Liked It So Much That We Stayed a Little Longer…

by Matt

Those of you who read this blog carefully will remember that the October 15th post made mention that we came back a couple days after we thought we would. And yes, there’s a story there…

Brian dropped us off at the Lilongwe airport on Saturday morning, all packed and ready to fly back to the States. When we handed the tickets to the clerk at the counter, he looked at them for a minute and then said “So, you were supposed to fly yesterday?”

“No, today.”

“No, yesterday.”

“No, today.”

At this point, all we could think was: This is not looking good! We’ve collectively traveled to over 40 countries, and this had never happened to either of us. Was he serious? Was our ticket for yesterday, for Friday?! Yes, it sure was.

The clerk was very kind. He pointed out that the schedule we had received was confusing, and he understood why we had misread it. But the fact still remained: we had missed our flight by 24 hours.

Airport 2

So off we went to the little office in the airport that services Kenya Airways customers. I should point out that all of our travels up to this point had been perfectly smooth – no lost luggage, no significant delays, and even good food! I was starting to wonder what the deal was with people talking about African time, about things not working, and about needing to adjust my expectations for a slower life. All of a sudden, beginning in the Kenya Airways office, all of the Africa-ness of our trip caught up with us, in a three-part adventure.

Adventure #1
We had definitely missed Friday’s flight, but it was possible that we could still get on that day – Saturday’s – flight. It would cost $50 apiece to change our tickets, and the clerk said that we would have to be on a waiting list for the flight from Nairobi to London. We thought about this for a few minutes. If we didn’t get on the flight out of Nairobi, we’d be stuck in the Nairobi airport for about 35 hours. Between the cost of a visa, the level of crime, and the general state of nothingness in the airport, 35 hours is a really long time to be in Nairobi. We decided to go for it though, to at least get a start on our trip. Twenty minutes later, between an ATM without internet connection and a full airline waiting list, we realized that we weren’t getting anywhere that day. I grinned and told Matt: “I actually like adventures like this.” He grinned back: “Me too!”

The clerk told us that we could get all the flights from Lilongwe to Nairobi to London to LA if we booked them for tomorrow and found a place to stay overnight. He couldn’t book them for us though, and told us we’d have to get to the Kenya Airways office in the city to do that, and the office was to close in 2 hours, at noon.

Adventure #2
Brian was our only hope for both of these problems. If we could get in touch with him, we could ask to stay another night and see if he could help us find the Kenya Airways office in town. Our first task was to get in touch with him. Brian had made sure that we had change with us when he dropped us off, just in case we would need to use the pay phone to call his cell phone. We confidently took off in search of a pay phone. We found one, but it only took phone cards. After a little investigating, we discovered that no one in the airport actually sold phone cards. Hmmm. Matt eventually found a nice lady who let him use her cell phone to call Brian. Brian, of course, was so gracious to turn right around and come back to pick us up. (Thanks again Brian!)

Adventure #3
Our last adventure was to make it to the Kenya Airways office in time to make the ticket changes. We drove straight to the city and eventually found the office complex. Brian loaned us the cash to make the changes, and we had it all taken care of with 15 minutes to spare before the office closed! All the changes had been made, and we were set to fly out on Sunday, only a couple days later than we were supposed to.

Airport 1

As embarrassing as it is to admit that we missed our flight by 24 hours, we’re so glad we did. We were able to spend more time with the Biedebach family, to go to church a second Sunday, and we had some of the best conversations and connections with people in those 2 days we “weren’t supposed to be there.” God knows what He’s doing, and we’re so glad He does. We’ll take those adventures any day.

Church Members

by Matt

Certainly the highlight of our trip to Malawi last month was the opportunity to connect with people. Over the course of the week that we were there, we were able to go to church twice, to attend a mid-week Bible study, to have lunch with a couple different families, to hang out with the church youth one night, to go to a community potluck dinner, and I got to go to 2 women’s Bible studies. We were soaking it all in as we went, so tried to interact as much as possible without being awkward and overly talkative. =)

Church members 1
Kondi and Patricia. Kondi has been a friend of Matt’s since 2001. Matt even went to take pictures of their wedding last December.

The variety of forums in which we got to interact with all the people – in International Bible Fellowship and in the community – reminded us of why it is so important for us to join the ministry there as soon as possible. While we were there, Brian preached in church, preached in chapel at African Bible College, taught 2 college classes on homiletics, led youth group, led the mid-week Bible study, spent time preparing for all these, and spent good and intentional time with his family. I was tired just watching him! But he loves it. He loves to preach and to teach. Matt and I are so excited to jump in and help with some of the practical, administrative, and discipleship aspects of this ministry, and to spend our time encouraging and training others in the church to be active in the ministry.

IMG_1540_2
Brian preaching on Sunday morning

And it’s all about people – the church is all about people loving Jesus more and more each day, spurring one another on to love and good deeds, learning to serve and minister to one another, and doing it in the context of biblical community. We got to meet these people! We got to see their love for the Lord and their desire to learn of Him and grow in their understanding of Him and commitment to Him.

Church members 2
This pic I swiped from the Biedebach’s blog. =) Click on the pic to see their blog.

I was speaking with one sweet lady, and she is just in the beginning of this journey. She was telling us that she has learned so much in the 3 months she’s been at the church, and that the Bible has the answers! God tells us things in the Bible! And we can read it – it’s right here! Her enthusiasm warmed my heart, made me want to love her and help her in any way the Lord would allow, and at the same time, made me want to cling to the truths that she had stated. This is ministry, being able to walk with people like this.

I am excited about many things about Malawi, but the people I met there are at the top of the list. I’ve been praying that the Lord would stir my heart to love them more each day, to pray for them, and that He would prepare me for whatever role He would have me play in their lives – whether that’s speaking the truth of God’s Word into their lives or encouraging their heart with a note on a heavy day. God is the orchestrator of all these things. I just want to be available and ready to go with whatever He has planned.

The Sour Cream Adventure

by Matt

During our trip last month, one of the things that I was able to satisfy my curiosity about was the grocery shopping situation. Anita gave us a great opportunity to check out the grocery scene. She’d gotten a phone call, and was very excited about it. Apparently the word was being passed around that Foodworth’s, a local grocery store, had just received a shipment of sour cream! There hadn’t been any sour cream in the city for over a month, so this was BIG NEWS! She asked if Matt and I could take their van (which in Africa is called a “combi”) and go to the grocery store for her, as she had a group of homeschool kids arriving shortly. We thought that would be a great opportunity to drive around and get a feel for the city, and of course we were delighted to help her. So we were off on the sour cream adventure.

Groceries 1
First we needed a good map. We had a tourist magazine that covered the basics, so we set off with that. You’ll notice from this picture that I’m sitting in the front seat, on the left side, and I’m definitely not driving. I was more than happy to let Matt show off his excellent right-hand driving skills.

Groceries 5
On our tour of the three grocery stories in the city, we ran into something familiar to anyone who has lived overseas: bagged milk. They make nifty pitchers that are designed to hold these bags. You just set the bag in the pitcher, clip off a corner of the bag, and pour.

Groceries 6
Looks like a pretty regular grocery store, doesn’t it? This is in the international section of Shop Rite, and if you have really good eyes, or a great sense of logo recognition, you’ll notice the Old El Paso brand in the sparsely stocked section of the shelves. A pack of 10 tortillas was about $10, so I think we’ll be using the tortilla press that my mother-in-law gave us.

Groceries 7
Fresh produce is readily abundant, fairly inexpensive, and will likely make up a majority of what we eat. Things like mangoes and papayas are easy to find. Celery: not so easy. This picture makes me laugh, because if I didn’t know it was Malawi, I’d guess it was a Wal-Mart here in California!

Groceries 2
Meat is a bit more expensive than the fruits and vegetables. One of these packages of frozen chicken breasts contains 4-5 pieces and costs about $6. That doesn’t mean we won’t be eating meat; it just means I’ll try to make it stretch a bit farther.

Groceries 3
And finally, we found the sour cream (top shelf). We bought plenty to last Anita for a while, and I realized that I’d learned a lot about shopping in Malawi during this trip. 1) There’s plenty of food and variety available. 2) Cooking from scratch is the way to go – they have almost all of the basics, and with a little creativity you can come up with a lot. 3) Shopping is an adventure. You never know what will be in stock, but it just might be sour cream!

I love a good map

by Matt

Taking a quick break from the Malawi 2008 trip stories, I want to share a few new maps I’ve found. I have several boxes of printed maps, so it’s not surprising that I collect digital images of them also. Here are my current African favorites.

Map of Africa Political
First of all, find Malawi. It’s yellow, small, and in the south-east. Most prominently you can find the capital, Lilongwe, where we’ll live.

Map of Africa Geology
This map, highlighting the geology and terraine of the continent, reminds me that Malawi is not predominantly sand.

Map of Africa 1771
The caption is hard to read this small, but this is Africa in 1771. I didn’t realize that Upper and Lower Ethiopia covered so much territory then!

Map of Africa Weather
This map is dedicated to my dad, who really should have been a weatherman.

Map of Africa Lights
This is the map that started the African collection. Matt told me that he’d see a map of Africa at night and that it was fascinating. He found it again on a NASA website for me, and I’m truly fascinated! There is actually a dot of light representing Lilongwe, so this must have been taken when the electricity was working!