33 hours and counting! Our itinerary to Papua New Guinea.

We are scurrying around getting things organized and trying to leave the house in reasonable shape for the next occupants.  Last-minute items on our list are added and checked off and then others added.  It will end.  Tomorrow at 6:30 PM.  Lord-willing.  Then the next chapter begins!

The kids are doing very well right now.  Yesterday, David was really acting quite unsettled and insecure, but he seems much better now-- I think it has a lot to do with Carrie being home after her longest separation from them yet.  He is much more award of his surroundings and what is going on as well as a bit more high strung, so change seems to affect him more.  I'm sure they will all experience that to a degree --  just as we will!  Please pray that this next series of transition would be joyful and that we and the kids would greet them with wonder and the Lord's perspective.  What a huge blessing it is to have so many people lifting us up in prayer daily in so many ways!  Thank you ever so much, as always!

Here are some of the details of the pilgrimage as well as some specific prayer requests.  These are the plans we have in place, but we are well aware of the possibility of changes happening unexpectedly anywhere. Thus, we say, Lord-willing, we plan to . . .

. . . depart on Sunday, June 8 from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport (DFW) at 9:55 PM Central time.  It is a direct flight to Brisbane, Australia (BNE) and is listed as a 16 hour and 5 minute flight.  If you would like to track our flight progress, you can do so by clicking on this link.  If you don't see the flight automatically, just enter "QFA" for the airline and "8" for the flight number on the left side of the page and you should see all the details come up.  

We should arrive at 5 AM on TUESDAY, the 10th in Brisbane, which will be 2 PM Central time in the USA.  (We lose all of Monday when we cross the International Date Line)

We are going to spend the next three days in Brisbane before embarking on the final two legs of the trip.  This will hopefully allow ourselves and the kids to acclimate to the different time zone and all of us to get some rest and sleep.  Brisbane and PNG share the same time zone, so that is a blessing.

Wonderful friends of ours from PNG who are in the Brisbane area on furlough have arranged for a place for all of us to stay.  Some friends of theirs in their church have space for us.  You'll surely hear more about them later on!

They have planned everything out for us: transportation, diapers, cribs, food, etc.  This is just another example among many how the Body of Christ has come together to "aid us in our time of need."  Over and over again, God has proven His sufficiency and care in challenging times and during the easy times as well.

On Friday morning, the 13th, we depart from Brisbane at 9:10 AM for Port Moresby (POM), the capital city of Papua New Guinea.  Again, click here if you want to follow this flight.  If the flight does not automatically show, enter "ANG" for the airline and "006" for the flight number.  We are scheduled to arrive at 12:15 after just over three hours.  We will then be picked up with people from our mission who will take us to our hangar.  There we should meet our Quest Kodiak pilot and aircraft who will transport us to Ukarumpa, our home in the Eastern Highlands Province of PNG.  It is about an hour and a half flight, so that should get us to our destination at around 4-5 PM on Friday.

We've got amazing friends in Ukarumpa who have been gathering different items together in preparation for our arrival: cribs, diapers, clothes, meals, volunteer helpers for the first few days of unpacking . . . .  Thank you to all involved!

And just in case you were wondering if anyone will be taking photos or video of our arrival-- yes.  We've got a couple people who have volunteered to do so.  We know so many of you have prayed us to this point and would love to give you a bit of a glimpse of our trip back and arrival there.    It will likely take us a few days to get set up and connected to the internet once we're there, but we'll do it as quickly as we can.

To simplify everything, below is a bullet list of our itinerary.  The first times noted are Central time zone times and I've put the times for Australia and PNG in parentheses:

Summary: Jones Contingent Itinerary

• Sunday, June 8, 9:55 PM Central time: Depart Dallas (DFW) for Brisbane (BNE)
• Monday, June 10, 2:00 PM Central time: Arrive Brisbane, Australia (5:00 AM Brisbane time)
• Thursday, June 13 at 6:10 PM Central time: Depart Brisbane for Port Moresby (POM):  (Friday, 9:10 AM Brisbane time)
• Thursday, June 13 at 11:30 PM Central time:  Depart Port Moresby for Aiyura (airport near Ukarumpa): (Friday, 2:30 PM Brisbane time)
• Thursday, June 13 at 1:00 AM Central time:  ARRIVE AT FINAL DESTINATION AIYURA! (Friday, 4:00 PM PNG time)

  Prayer requests

(These are our desires, but we do wish the Lord's will be done above all!)

• That the Lord would be glorified in and through us as we travel.  We want those on the airplane and in the airport and everywhere else to see Jesus Christ in us.  That will only happen by His power alone!
• Safe flights and good, smooth connections
• Grace and understanding from our fellow airline passengers- we all know what it's like to travel on a plane with a cranky baby.  Anybody know what it's like with 5?  (We'll let you know!)
• Open, clear ears for each child so they don't experience pain on the pressurized flights.
• That the kids would all sleep well and long on the airplanes.
• A good transition to the PNG time zone as we rest in Brisbane.
• Good connections and relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ in Australia.
• Smooth transition to life back in PNG.

A thousand thanks from us all!

Gavin