The first day of Travel was a bit exciting. One of our team members didn’t make it. And the flight with most of our team was on was almost late taking off and we only had 45 minutes to make our connection in Houston. Our team members already in Houston were working to try and get them to hold the plane until we got there. And when we landed and deplaned we had approximately 15 minutes to run from o e terminal to the tram, get to the next terminal and then the gate. We barely made it but we did.

We still sat on the tarmac for about 15 minutes and one of our team commented that we had time. Which i responded, “Hopefully that means our luggage will make it too.” It did. Everyone and everything made it except for Emily who is coming in today. We piled into three small trucks with all of our luggage in the back. Went to eat lunch and then get more supplies at Walmart. Those supplies also went in the back of the three small trucks. We had about a 3 hour drive to the communities of El Horno, El Sute, and Aguazarca. The first part of the ride was fine but then it seemed like we were on a creek bed making our way up stream and in the dark, complete darkness.

It’s difficult to describe this to people who have lived in places with street lamps and city lights. But the darkness is complete. You can see nothing. Nothing…unless you look up and you can see stars and planets like never before. The words “star light, star bright” came to mind.

When we arrived in El Horno we were welcomed and greeted and got all of our bags in and then went to dinner. We drive up the way to a house where we were served black beans, cheese, eggs and awesome tortillas. After dinner we went back to the church where we are sleeping and working to get ready for bed.

The baño is an out house with bucket flush. If you don’t know what that is I’ll explain on another post. Just let me know.

Sleep came easy to me. The only thing that woke me was the wind which was howling all night and shaking the metal roof on the Church. The other thing that woke me is needing to use the baño. When I got back to go back to sleep the roosters, of course crowed me back to sleep.

More later.

There is always a sense of excitement as well as nerves that accompany going some place you have never been before. The expectations and anticipation of the unknown keeps one on edge and hopefully a bit more alert. This is especially true when you travel to a foreign country where your knowledge of the language is limited. It is essential to listen.

Communication seems so much more important in this day and time where people’s anxiety can often lead to misunderstandings if not anger and violence. An ability to stay calm is imperative. But what’s more is an ability to listen carefully and be alert to both verbal and non verbal communication. My hope for this trip is that the team works well together but also that we open ourselves to listen and learn to our partners in mission as we grow together in faith, mutual understanding and love.

So the adventure begins. One team member left their walking stuck and I darted out, running at break neck speed to catch the car but I’m not fast enough. But we got him on the phone and he got back with it. I, of course was stopped for a random check, never fails. But no problem. Then we found out that one of our team members didn’t make it out of Shreveport because of the security checks—-it took her 40 minutes and despite being 10 pre departure the plane had taken off early.

We were told that we would leave early and started down the tarmac and then were told we are taking off almost 45 minutes late. Okay. Let it go. Except our connecting flight only allowed us 45 minutes. So we may start a day late but all…but as Julian of Norwich said: All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Keep watching for posts as I can share!

So the adventure begins. One team member left their walking stuck and I darted out, running at break neck speed to catch the car but I’m not fast enough. But we got him on the phone and he got back with it. I, of course was stopped for a random check, never fails. But no problem. Then we found out that one of our team members didn’t make it out of Shreveport because of the security checks—-it took her 40 minutes and despite being 10 pre departure the plane had taken off early.

We were told that we would leave early and started down the tarmac and then were told we are taking off almost 45 minutes late. Okay. Let it go. Except our connecting flight only allowed us 45 minutes. So we may start a day late but all…but as Julian of Norwich said: All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Keep watching for posts as I can share!