The outbound journey

Our outbound journey began with meeting at the church for prayer for the road trip to the Detroit Metro airport. We had a short flight to Atlanta, a few hours layover, and then boarded the airplane for the all night flight to Santiago Chile. After a long night of dozing and short naps the sun rise over the Andes Mountains was both a beautiful and welcome sight. The airport in Santiago is like any major airport in the US complete with Starbucks and uncomfortable seating. The 6 hour layover in Santiago was a mixture of nap time, placid conversation an interaction with fellow travelers. Just as we were ready to board for Uruguay we learned of a ticketing problem that meant one of the team would likely stay behind for a flight the following day unless there was at least one “no show” for that flight. We gathered for prayer at the gate and then all but the one member of the team boarded the plane. Larry and I were standing at the top of the jet way waiting and praying as the gate agents counted the boarding passes did their final checks. After what seemed like forever they finally allowed the last person of the team to board the plane. Praise the Lord!!!!! When we arrived in Montevideo we were met by the church family and then boarded a private bus for a reception at the church. The reception was a beautiful time spent making new friendships and renewing old ones. In a few cases there were first hugs in relationships formed by correspondence. After the time of fellowship we were off to the Seminary to get settled in and some much needed rest.