praise God for hot showers and gas stoves!

Hey ya'll,

I just wanted to let you know that I have safely made it back to the States! My flight landed in Chicago late on Wednesday night, and I arrived back home in my parents' house at about 2am that night!

It was a long journey - but a successful one! And incredibly enough - my luggage made it here with me! I wasn't planning on it, especially when we were about to leave Entebbe, Uganda, and a crew person came up to me on the plane... "Are you Ms Erickson?" "Yes." "Did you check luggage?" Me: "Yes, I did. Is there a problem?" Him: "Oh no problem. Do you have the luggage claim tickets?" Me: "Yes... Here they are. What's wrong?" Him: "Nothing is wrong. You luggage just didn't get entered earlier..."

Good grief! I thought for sure that my suitcases wouldn't be in Chicago when I landed that night... But they were! Praise God! :)

So now I'm here in Wisconsin. While in the States I intend to help as much as possible with my sister's upcoming wedding... Continue on work for UCBC (including an Annual Report and working on Visitor information!)... Spend time with family, friends and supporters... Maybe get a little sun (I spent over 9 months in Congo, and got no tan!)... Rest... Work... And raise support to go back to the DRC for another year!

Please email me if you would like to get together while I'm back in the States. I should be here until the end of September. And as of right now - I don't have a mobile phone. So email is best!

Thank you for your prayers and support... You have no idea how much they touched me and carried me. Please continue to pray for the Congo, for UCBC, for the community there and for me.

Thank you. And I'll update again soon!

love,
Bethany