Due to our limited internet access, pictures will not be included in our blog posts for now. Instead, here is a link to the website of our host that has some pictures up from our group. Enjoy!
We had an early morning as we prepared to fly out to the Dominican Republic. Everyone was packed and ready to eat at 7:15 a.m. The group enjoyed a quick meal and then went to pack the bus. We were happily greeted by our faithful driver of 5 years, Ed Richards.
After the bus was packed, we were on our way to Dulles Airport. The youth staff led everyone in a devotion based on 1 Timothy 4:12. They encouraged the group to utilize the gifts that God has given them on the trip and not be deterred by their age.
Then Kimberly came to the front of the bus to present the FFP award. She decided to give the award to Alex S. due to how well he handled the hunger awareness meal. The bandana ninja came forward to receive his praise as the actual button had already been packed into a suitcase.
We arrived at the airport and quickly unloaded our bags. There was quite a large line at the American Airlines ticket counter but everyone got their tickets and had their bags weigh less than 50 lbs. before we started on our way toward security.
There were a few people that had items checked or removed while making their way through security. Some even were searched but everyone made it through without any big losses.
We made it to our gate and only had a little time before we boarded and were on our way to Miami. Our group sat together and it wasn’t long before they were settling in and making the plane feel like home.
After we landed in Miami, we had a four-hour layover before boarding the plane to Santiago. Groups took turns going to get some food and then came back to enjoy some quality down time. The flight ended up being delayed a little bit due to an afternoon storm but it was only about 30 minutes later than scheduled.
Again we boarded the plane and prepared ourselves for our next flight. We definitely enjoyed ourselves but this flight was definitely more subdued as several members of our group decided to sleep on the plane.
An hour and a half later we had landed in Santiago and began out of the airport. We waited to purchase our tourist cards and then we were able to go through customs. There was a miscommunication about our arrival time so we had to wait a bit at the airport but it gave us the perfect opportunity to have a photo shoot. We made sure to get pictures of all the travel groups.
We were excited to find out there was free wi-fi at the airport and so we were able to update the blog with just enough information to let everyone know we had made it and were okay.
A few moments later, Sarah, our contact for the Renewed Hope Mission arrived. Sarah greeted us warmly along with the drivers and the other four high school students serving with us for the coming week. We somehow managed to fit all of the luggage and people into the vehicles and made our way to La Islita “The Little Island” where we would be staying for the week.
The entire group was thrilled to find out that there was a meal waiting for us when we arrived around 10:30 since we didn’t really have an opportunity to eat dinner yet. We enjoyed every bite and made sure to thank them for their hospitality.
Then everyone picked up their luggage and got settled into their assigned rooms. We had a brief meeting about the coming week and then headed off to bed to get some much needed sleep.
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