From Here to There

Come visit us at our new blog: From Here to There.

 

 

That's All Folks!

Well, it’s been a good run but the time has come to close this blog. As the April 24^th post can attest to, the email account that administered it was compromised. In shutting down the account all access to editing the blog was also shut down and seems to be irrecoverable. So this will be the final post (posted via e-mail). All of the links, slideshows, photos and videos should still be active so it will remain as something of an archive of our time in Congo. All of our newsletters—from April 2009 through October 2012—are still accessible on the sidebar as well.

 

After close to a year of very little blogging activity, though, we are getting back on track with a new blog. The web address is www.aaronandmichellelarsen@blogspot.com. This will essentially be a continuation of Hospitals and Trenches but for the next chapter in our lives. Should be fun; can’t wait to see what’s in store…

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Aaron and Michelle Larsen

Spam Alert

I wanted to email everybody to warn you that my Gmail account was hacked. If you receive an email from arlars@gmail.com with the subject “WIRE TRANSFER DETAILS,” delete it immediately. I have shut down that account and replaced it with aaron.larsen007@gmail.com.

 

Mpo na bino na Congo, esengeli ete soki bozui email kouta na arlars@gmail.com na sujet oyo: WIRE TRANSFER DETAILS, boeffacer yango immediatement. Vraiment, euti na ngai te kasi eyebi kobebisa ordinateur. Bongo bokeba na yango.

 

Sorry about that.

 

Thanks,

 

Aaron Larsen

October 2012 Newsletter...Finally!

The last time we sent out a newsletter was the middle of June so this one is long overdue! Life has been pretty busy lately. Actually, it's been busy since the middle of June. Since then we have left Congo, been to the Philippines and Taiwan, arrived back in the US, traversed the country from Pennsylvania to Colorado to Wisconsin and Illinois, moved into a new home in upstate New York, started graduate school and been to Minneapolis for debriefing and transitioning to long term with ReachGlobal. This past week Michelle has been in Liberia with CAMPS ReachGlobal as she begins to move into a working role within that new department in the mission. She gets back tonight.

One of the things we have not been able to do as much of in all the busyness has been support team building. Now that we are transitioning to long term with ReachGlobal, we need to raise additional support. This edition of our newsletter explains it in detail. Please consider partnering with us through prayer or financial support of our ministry. And if you have any further questions or would like to know more about what we are and will be doing, we'd be happy to answer your questions. This year, at least until June 2013, we will be somewhat restricted to the East Coast due to school. If you live within that area we are open to seeing how we could even meet with you at some point during these two semesters. If you live outside of that area, maybe we could figure something out down the road for the upcoming summer season.

Regardless, read our newsletter and find out what we're up to. A donation sheet is also provided in case you feel led to support us at this time.

October 2012 Newsletter
2012 Donation Information 

The Long Way Home: Part 3

Manila to New York City: July 19

Home, Sweet Home.  We are finally back in the US, currently at my parents' house in Allentown, PA.  We woke up at 3AM this Thursday, headed to the airport and later that morning boarded a plane bound for NYC via Tokyo, Japan.  After four hours to Japan, two hours in the airport there and twelve and a half hours to JFK, we were checking through immigration and putting our passport away (for at least a little while anyway).  Once again, Soleil did great on the plane and enjoyed having Lola and Grandpa to keep her company part of the way.  Now she has met all four grandparents, having met Bestefar (Norwegian for grandfather) for the first time and "re-meeting" Koko (Lingala for any grandparent but in this case referring to my Mom) at the airport yesterday.  We're still trying to shake the travel fatigue so I'm calling it a night and going to bed; just wanted to let you know that we've made it safely back and are once again stateside.  Thanks to all who prayed for our travels!

On Our Way Home...

It has been over two weeks now since we left the Congo and we still haven't made it home to the US yet.  Instead, we've made our way to Michelle's childhood home, the Philippines.  Michelle's parents, Ron and Alice Watters, are missionaries here and they live in Quezon City in Metropolitan Manila.  It has been an incredible vacation and we still haven't had time to rest.  I'm sure that will come at some point but so far we've been having too much fun!

A truly grueling vacation

We arrived in Manila late on Tuesday, July 3rd.  Tired as she was, Soleil took time to try out her new stroller, an early Christmas gift from Grandpa and Lola (Tagalog for grandmother).

On Wednesday we got haircuts and went "malling".  On Thursday we went for a drive around the neighborhood Michelle grew up in and went to a discipleship group in the evening with Michelle's parents.  On Friday, Ron and I went to Corregidor, a famous WWII island battleground at the mouth of Manila Bay while Michelle visited some of the ladies from Alice's Partners in Ministry group at IGSL.  We finished up the day at another discipleship group.   

Riding in a "tricycle" through Quezon City

Ruins at Corregidor

Gun Emplacement on the Island

On Saturday we drove up to Subic Bay.  The primary attraction for the day was Zoobic, a little animal park.

Petting a Goat

"What is that?"

Soleil trying to shake hooves with a deer

Feeding the canaries

On Sunday we went to church and then went malling again.  What else are you going to do to get out the heat?

On Monday we boarded a Philippine Airlines flight for the island of Cebu.  Our destination was a beach resort on the north side of the island called Alegre.  We spent four days here playing in the sea, kayaking, snorkeling, eating and (in my case) getting a bad sunburn.  Well worth it.

When we got back from Cebu we had a day to get our clothes washed and head back to the airport, this time en route to Taiwan.  Michelle's parents were missionaries in Taipei before moving to Manila when Michelle was in first grade.  So we spent three days in Taipei sightseeing and touring their old neighborhood.

We got back to Manila at 3:30 this morning and back to the house by 5:30.  Despite the lack of sleep, the late nights, the early mornings and the constant traveling, Soleil has been a real trooper.  She has seemed to really enjoy this vacation and has been making friends everywhere she goes, whether it's

with a flight attendant on Philippine Airlines,

on the beach at the resort,

in the Taipei airport,

at the restaurant in Cebu

with a fellow hippo-lover at the zoo

or with a young pianist in Manila.

Today we visited the International Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL) where Ron serves as the Academic Dean and heads the Theology Department.  We have one more day left here in the Philippines and all that we have to do is to pack.  We leave Manila the morning of July 19th, touching down at JFK twenty hours later.

Departure Service

Our church, Paroisse CECU Libenge-Moke, had a farewell service for all of us one evening during our final week in Gemena.  We hosted it at ELIKYA, between our house and the classroom building. 

This short clip was filmed during the final 'postlude' as people were drinking tea and the service was wrapping up.