Hola mi familia! Caroline (or Carolina, as I am known in the DR!) here, and it is finally time for my first blog ON the race! Yay!

On January 8th we left for Atlanta and we stayed there for a few days for sessions, training, and worship before we actually left the country! Then at 3:00 a.m. on January 10th we woke up to go to to airport! Now…our plane did not leave until nine, but we like to be EXTRA sure we have plenty of time to get 40 people through the airport. Haha! 

And a funny thing happened on our way to the airport; we got in a car crash. *GASP!* First of all, no one was hurt. We were trying to turn and a car didn’t see us and merged into our lane. They hit the side of the shuttle, and, after pausing just a moment, they drove away. 

We hadn’t even left the country yet and our adventure started with a BANG! Haha! But really, this event showed me the importance of covering yourself in prayer. Because we realized after this event that none of us had prayed. And we are fighting to share the love of Jesus around the world, and the enemy hates that. And he will do whatever it takes to hinder us. So (side note here!) if you could say a quick prayer for me and my squad! We can certainly use that love and protection! 

After that we got in a second shuttle (on the side of the road!) and finally made it to airport…where we waited for three hours before going to check-in. Haha!

But all 41 of us made it through the airport and onto the plane and to the Dominican Republic! 

 

After leaving the DR airport me and my six team mates, including Alex, then took a taxi for two hours to La Vega where we are staying! 

Our first few days here we have been helping to rebuild a house in town and we have given out about a hundred water filters to families in the community. Our team of seven has been split into two groups and we alternate going to the house and giving out the filters. I love, love, love doing both of these ministries! 

The people of the DR are so kind, and me and my team have been so spoiled. We are staying in an actual house, Alex and I have our own room, are food is being made for us (YAY authentic DR food! SO. YUMMY.), and our ministry host are amazing! 

Also (another side note) I have been sick with a cold since Sunday, and yesterday I had to stay home and miss ministry because of it. So if you all could be praying for that as well! 

So there! There is a recap of my first few days on the race! Soon I’ll write a blog more about the spiritual things that have been going on at the same time! I love you all, and I’ll talk to you again soon. <3