Home, sweet home...

Monday was a good work day to finish up some of the benches and the garbage "house", as well as hit the beach in the afternoon. We had some more "turista" casualties though, and believe we should be investing in the maker of immodium...
The banquet was really neat - wonderful Dominican food, a chance to thank the excellent cooks, and live entertainment with Anjolie and Frank singing songs for us in Spanish. Afterwards was a time of sharing, where we were encouraged and challenged to bring what we'd done in the DR back home and continue walking with our God, as the holy and annointed people that we are. It was a good chance for many to articulate what we saw God do this week, in us and/or through us.

Our team prayer requests for this trip were good weather (that we'd be able to spend an extended time in Cercadillo this year) It rained the first day we had planned to go there, but we rearranged the schedule and were able to go another day and spend about 4 hours there. We prayed for grace with the language. I think most of us picked up some of the lingo, and were encouraged at being able to communicate, verbally or non-verbally, with the people. We prayed for bonding and unity with the other team. They were a youth pastor and 3 guys from Johnston E Free church, and Adam and Dave (the pastor) are good friends, so it was neat that they were able to spend time together. I think our team really appreciated Dave,Ian, and Brad's musical abilities, and as they participated in worship times, we enjoyed what they added to the experiences. The guys all did cement work, and it was a real bonding experience, so, praise God for more answered prayer. We prayed for good health and energy, and overall, it was good. None of were down and out for the count... many of us had "bathroom moments," but seemed to recover pretty quickly or were able to "suck it up" and continue. Yesterday, traveling was the longest day ( my opinion) and the energy was the lowest, but even at 9:30 p.m. when we finally learned that all 7 of us still in Atlanta would be able to get on the plane, we had energy to cheer and praise God! Adam had taken a different flight - through Cincinnati to DM because he had to work today, and ended up getting stuck there overnight with weather conditions. He text messaged this morning and was feeling sick and it didn't look like he'd be able to get home until at least noon today. Please pray for him: his health and an understanding boss at work. Thanks!
We prayed that we would be able to support and encourage the team leaders, and believe that we did that, for at least some of them. They are a mixed bunch, with a wide variety of interests, abilities, and gifts. Please continue to pray for Matt, Jared, Steph, Carolyn, Bre, and Ashley, as well as Bill, Ina and Noe, who are their leaders. We prayed for ministry opportunities, and as you read in an earlier blog, we were given unexpected chances to hang out with the locals and help grow the kingdom.

Thank you for being part of our team. It was encouraging to know that we had faithful family and friends home praying for us. We believe that it was TIME well spent. We look forward to continuing to learn from the 9 days we spent on the trip, and see where and how God directs us in the future.