From Danielle via email:

“Mbote  HELLO from Brazzaville!  We are here a little worse for wear but
here all safe and sound.  We arrived with all 14 pieces luggage, after
only one mishap and a few heart clenching moments as we went through
customs in Brazzaville.

I will write a full update for everyone about our trip in the next few
days.  But for now know that we are here, and appreciate your continued
prayers as we have hit our first bits of culture shock.

Through Christ alone~

Art, Danielle & Michael
Missionaries to Republic of Congo”

Today is the day – the Ralstons are on their way.  We left for the airport at one this afternoon.  The drive went well and we arrived at JFK in Brooklyn at two thirty – almost six hours before the scheduled departure time for their flight.  The airlines had told us to be there by two fifty two so we were only twenty two minutes early according to their recommended arrival time.

As soon as the Ralstons got inside they were informed that the airlines would not even open for business until four twenty as that was four hours before departure time!  So we got some seriously poor information from the airlines.  How did they come up with such a precise number so massively off from reality?  Likely it was the Lord watching over us.  In this instance boredom is far better than panic.

We had a lot of standing around to do but no big deal.  Knowing that we were at the airport and that no traffic or vehicular problems were going to impede us now was a big deal and being there this early would wind up being very critical – but not until later.

When the airlines check-in and luggage desk finally opened we were, understandably, first in line.  But the second person in line had been there for at least an hour because of a long layover so we really were only first in line by a relatively small margin.  It turned out that they had several more pieces of luggage than were allowed.  Only four pieces per passenger are allowed.  This limit could be waved, and often would be, if the plane were not completely full – but it was.  So even the option of buying another ticket (and having me fly back over to Morocco with the luggage and fly right back we said half jokingly – luckily I had not brought my passport with me) to accommodate all of the luggage was out of the question.  Because we were the very first people in line and, probably, because we had been waiting for so long the nice woman at the counter decided to just accept the luggage.  So everything got to go!  What a blessing.

Getting eight hundred pounds of luggage moved around the airport was no easy task but everything got handed over to security and all that was left was for us to say out goodbyes and for the Ralstons to head over to the security checkpoint and begin their process of leaving their lives here behind.  No turning back now.  It is really happening.

The flight to Morocco will leave tonight at eight twenty and should arrive in Casablanca in seven and a half hours.  Then a five hour layover at the airport and back onto another plane for the eight and a half hour flight down to Brazzaville.  They are expected, with no delays which seem very likely, to arrive in Brazzaville around six tomorrow evening eastern time.  It will be a long time after that before we have contact with them as they have luggage, security and customs with which to deal before attempting to get to the missionary compound, get food, water, settled, Internet access, etc.

This is it! It is our last night in the US, at least for a while. Tomorrow evening is our flight to Morocco, and we expect that flight to be the next time we sleep. I highly doubt we will get much tonight! It’s so exciting that we are finally at this point. At the same moment, it is rather scary to be stepping out into the unknown; not that the last two years have been what would be considered by most to be “normal”.

We are staying these final couple of days with our good friends Scott & Dominica Miller (and their baby girl, Liesl… yes, it is pronounced like weasel, but with an “L”) in Peekskill, New York. It’s not too far from JFK, and it was good to get a short calm before the storm, as it were. Danielle’s mother brought our luggage down to us, which saved us a bundle by eliminating the need to rent a van to transport it all. We have 14 packages in total, plus one carry-on per person. It is unfortunate that the airline rules now limit us to one carry-on (under 22 lbs.) and one checked package (no more than 50 lbs.), instead of the old 70-pound allowance. Thank the Lord for the shipping container that was sent last Spring; I can only imagine what we would have had to carry if not for that!

Tomorrow at about 1:30 pm, we will leave here for the airport, being driven by Scott. That is just one more blessing to add to the growing list. I may be crazy enough to leave everything (well, except for the tons of junk we are taking with us…) and move to the middle of the jungle, but I am in no way mentally prepared to drive through New York City with all of this on my mind. From there, we depart at 8:20 pm and should arrive in Morocco approximately seven and a half hours later. Morocco is something like 4 hours ahead of our time, so we lose those hours during the flight. Around six hours later, we should be boarding the plane for Brazzaville and arrive there by 10:30 pm, their time. We will remain at Global’s guest house there for 4 or 5 days until we fly to Impfondo to begin our service at the hospital.

I have been working on my French, and it’s all coming back. I am continually surprised to remember all of the words that I haven’t seen in so many years. I think I will do just fine, but please keep up the prayers anyway. It can’t hurt! While you are praying, please keep in mind our acclimation to the weather, food, culture, food, and lack of pizza and Mountain Dew! Also, please lift up our family embers who are beginning to cope with our being gone away for a few years. Everyone is excited with us, but parting is still difficult. Another good prayer request would be for the stress that all of this has put on our family. This much stress tends to bring out the worst in our fallen nature, and we can have much shorter fuses at times. We know that adjusting to Congo will be stressful as well, so we pray that the Lord will give us strength and patience as we live and interact with each other in our new setting.

Beyond all of this, we thank you for your continued prayers and support as we step out. We also count on these to keep continuing. God is good, and we are blessed to have all of you invested in this ministry. We eagerly anticipate our fruitfulness together with you. It will be exciting to see what the Lord has in store for us, and it will be our joy to pass that along to you. Until then, the Lord bless you and keep you. Good night, and we’ll contact you from the other side of the pond soon!

Dear Family~

Praise the Lord! It’s finally time! And, it’s really dark in here. I am sitting in the car, in the dark, as we are heading out to Florida for a visit to some friends/supporters there. A week ago, this was the big trip we were planning for. Since last Thursday, we almost forgot to plan for this little excursion. I hope we didn’t forget anything too important. I guess time will tell.

In case it is not obvious at this point, we now have our tickets and a departure date. Our flight leaves from JFK International Airport on Monday, May 25th at 8:20 PM. At least that’s what we are told. With the number and scope of the attacks that we’ve been dealt lately, I am getting harder to surprise with seemingly bad news. “We must be doing something right” is our motto. Somebody sure seems to want to throw a wrench into our lives all of a sudden!

Since the enemy has begun to step up activity against us, it’s time to remind ourselves many times per day to rely upon God in all things. Especially with the busyness that now has taken over our schedule, it is so imperative to keep telling ourselves and each other to relax and lean on Him. I think we need to do it even more… it certainly couldn’t hurt. It is so easy to get caught up in the tasks at hand and start piling the world on your shoulders.

This is also the time when we will really begin to count on you out there, praying for us. Please don’t misunderstand and believe that we have not appreciated your prayers to this point. We know that God has been answering those prayers, and that He works through the prayers of His people. Our need for your prayer has been there all along, but it will totally hit home now.

Although we have purchased our airline tickets, we are still not at 100 percent of our support budget. With the balance that has accumulated in out support account, added to our committed ongoing monthly support, we have the finances to cover our first year in Congo. To stay the second year, we need to raise another $460 per month of pledged support. As the months go by, that figure will adjust with the diminishing account balance. In order to stay for 4 years, we would need to raise a bit more funding. We hope that you will keep our need for more financial support before the Father in prayer, as we look to Him for His provision.

So, we’re off to the sunny state of Florida and a little vacation before we push off for Congo. We know that God’s will cannot be foiled, but we appreciate your prayers for protection as we travel. We also look forward to seeing a good number of you either in our travels or at our little going away party at La Grange Baptist Church on the afternoon of Sunday, May 17th. Until then, God watch over you and bless you!

Yours in Christ,

Art, Danielle, & Michael Ralston

Missionaries to the Republic of Congo (never thought I would get to right that)

The Ralstons are busy in south Florida this week after having driven from Western New York, to New York City and on down to the Miami area in two days and so I am busy handling the posts.

We have two of the PowerPoint Presentations loaded onto Laborers for the Harvest now that anyone interested can just download and watch.  These presentations require either Microsoft PowerPoint or OpenOffice to view.  If you do not have one of these you can freely download: OpenOffice or the Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer.

Download the Presentations:

Virginia Presentation
Contemporary Presentation