"O" Stands for Orientation

Our Palau adventure began on the afternoon of June 5. Check-in was at 5:30 for our 7:35 departure. We were all so excited to see what God would do during our time there.

We had a bit of a scare at the airport. Joel's passport had less than six months before expiration, and normally Palau does not allow that. To be honest we didn't even think of that, and of course Continental doesn't tell you about beforehand. We immediately began to pray, and agent received clearance from Palau to proceed with our check-in. We and the team were relieved that the family was able to join the trip. Joel wanted to be with Tanja in the airport waiting room, talking up a storm as usual.

We had a short stopover in Yap where Percia (far left) joined us. She spent a couple of weeks with her family in Yap before the mission trip began. You can also see Tanja (Germany) and Jonathan (Chuuk) in the picture.

We arrived in Palau and Percia (Yap) and Leeman (Palau) posed by the Gospel Kindergarten schoolbus that picked us up. I think we all looked a little BIG for kindergarten students, all except Joel and Amelia.
Our first day in Palau was orientation day. We became acquainted with our German team members.
Hedrick, Prima and Rob gave us a talk about how to be "more" Palauan. I guess one way is "eating Palauan": rice, taro, tapioca (yucca), turtle, eel, crab, fish, and clams. They told us to ask "intelligent" questions that showed understanding of the culture rather than superficial "tourist" questions.
Right away we fell in love with the Impact team from Liebenzell Germany. All seven of them and the PIBC team acted as "Big Brothers and Sisters" to Joel and Amelia during the four weeks we were there.
Stay tuned for another part of the Palauan Mission Trip Alphabet on another day.

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