Here we go. Months of preparation are at hand. Our medical team is off to Mali, West Africa.


We depart Omaha about 1pm on Saturday and connect through Chicago (for 8.5 hrs) to Paris (7 hr. layover), then a late flight in the dark over the Mediterranean and Sahara Desert (another 6 hrs) that arrives in Bamako about midnight Sunday night. We'll make our way through customs and get in bed by 2am, to be up again at 7am on Monday to hit the road (another 5.5 hours - to go a short 170 miles) to Koutiala. We'll be at the Koutiala hospital for introductions by Monday afternoon, their time. They are 6 hours ahead of CST in Omaha. (Koutiala is situated very near the GMT line.) The temperature will be 100*F.


Bookmark this site and look for our blog posts, which we will update as time allows. We'll try to send photos or videos, stories, reports and prayer needs each day, but electricity and reliability of WiFi connections will determine our success at that. Your comments on the blog are encouraged.


Pray for our team and the staff at the hospital. We will be conducting village clinic excursions which add an extra dimension of burden to their busy schedules, but the value of these village clinics is tremendous. Thank you in advance for your prayers. Financial support for our team members is still needed and will continue to be accepted even after we return from the trip.


Thank you, from all of us the team


Meet us on the blog!


(With apologies to Peter, Paul and Mary)
"All our bags are packed - We're ready to go - We're heading for 'United's' door -
We were up all night, packing one more thing.


So, pray for us once or twice... every day would be so nice.
Lord, lift us up, like you've never done before.


Cause we're leavin' on a jet plane, don't know what lies ahead.
We're leavin' on a jet plane, knowing that you've gone ahead,
Oh Lord... we want to meet you there."