Dear Supporters,
I have been in the Dominican Republic for almost a week now. And I’m here physically because you all supported me so well! To say thank you seems to be an understatement – but thank you all the same! Ultimately I’m here because of God – but you were part of His way of getting me here.
Let me tell you a little about my time so far.
I left Ohio on Friday morning and we (Dad, Mom, Conrad and I) headed to Georgia. Friday evening we arrived at 6 and there were meetings I was to attend. So I didn’t see my parents again till the next day about lunch time. They had a few meetings they could attend on Saturday as well to get acquainted with their part in being a World Racer Parent. We got to attend worship on Saturday evening together as well as have Sunday lunch before we had to say good-bye. Saying good-bye was hard, but not as hard as I had expected. I think that was because I had been anticipating leaving for so long, but I also knew that it would probably hit me later that I wouldn’t see my family for a year.
The racers continued to have sessions and a few scenarios to work through Sunday and Monday all day. Finally Tuesday morning arrived and we were all so very excited to start off! We gathered at 7:45 so we would be ready to head to the airport at 8:30. Two buses filled with people and heavy backpacks zoomed to the Atlanta airport. When we got there, we had to carry our heavy bags a little distance to the check-in counter. I was actually the first to get through check-in and I guess they didn’t ask as many questions, because the next few people that went through had problems. So it took quite a while before everyone had a boarding pass and we were ready to go through security. We arrived at our gate a good while before our scheduled flight so we could go get some food and hang out until 1:15. The other treasurers and I headed to an ATM to draw travel money for our teams. Our budget allows for $5 per person for a travel day. You might think that’s not so much. It isn’t – for sure not in an American airport. But I’m looking forward to those places where $5 will go rather far!
Our first flight went so well and we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, about 4 pm. We congregated in an area where we could have 33 people on one pile. We THOUGHT there would be a Chick-Fillet at the airport, but that report turned out to be false. So we got some Steak-n-Shake instead. About 10:30 we headed to our gate for our midnight flight to Santo Domingo. BUT, the flight was delayed until 2 am. Then to 3. And finally 5:45. We tried to stay positive. Donuts helped, as well as coffee. We did board at 5 then and were headed down the runway at 5:45. So we were ahead of schedule for once!
Arriving in the DR was a process. Everyone had been sleeping so we were all a bit confused and bedraggled. And traveling with 33 people makes life very interesting! Immigrations also just takes a while! We did finally get on two buses for our 3 or 4 hour drive to the mission. We hadn’t had any breakfast and it was past lunch till we finally drove up into the mountains and through the gates of Hope Mountain. Such a beautiful place to start our mission trip. And an even more welcome sight was the late lunch they had made for us! After lunch we grabbed a few hours of sleep to regain some sanity. And then there was supper and our first night enjoying the beautiful warm weather.
Our ministry turned out to be a bit different in the beginning from what we had imagined. The host family had two daughters who were sick with a virus of some kind and were in the hospital for the first 4 days we were here. So we found a few things to do around the house and property. We also listened to LeAnn and James teach us about intercessory prayer and self-reflection through journaling. We also had a fairly big project we worked on for two days where we dug dirt away from a waterfall area, carried the dirt up a steep slope in buckets and sacks, and dumped them at the top of the hill. The day I worked on that was so good, but the next day I realized that I hardly ever do that kind of work because I was very sore!
Another thing I wasn’t expecting really was the dorm style sleeping areas. The girls are split into two rooms with two bathrooms each. The first few nights I had a hard time falling asleep with so many people in my space. I realized that I can sleep even when there are people beside me who snore rather loudly; all I have to do is use my earbuds and blast some music. Also stick my head under my pillow.
We also don’t have easy access to wifi this month. This is a good thing. I didn’t quite expect this, but I’m sort of glad about it. It’s kind of a forced fast from wifi, and I have learned quite a bit through it. We do have an opportunity to buy 24 hours of wifi from a little shop down the road. I might do that at some point throughout this month just so I can update a bit. But. I’m glad I don’t have constant access. So, if you don’t hear from me, I didn’t die or fall off the face of the earth; I’m just keeping my focus off the internet for a while. However, each team has an appointed person who will be able to post our blogs for us if we have one. Thus I will not be silent for too long.
Prayer requests:
– Starr is a daughter to the ministry host we are staying at. Recently, she went back to the hospital for part of a night to get more IV’s. We have two nurses on our squad so she was able to come home and be cared for by them. She is still quite sick, though, and would appreciate your prayers.
– My squad has been able to get used to living together fairly well. That being said, 33 people in each others space all the time has become a challenge. Pray that our love for each other will continue to grow.
– Also the health of our squad has been a bit shaky recently. Getting accustomed to a different environment and its food has been interesting and gives our stomachs a but of a whirl.
Once again, thanks to all of you! Without your support, financial and spiritual, I wouldn’t be here.
