Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Well, first I want to thank God for getting us home safely (11 of the group, as Chris and Scott will arrive today). Safely..yes, quickly..no.

Due to the storms in the area (Chicago down to Louisville), our flight out of Miami was delayed 45 minutes, which meant our arrival in Chicago was at the same time as our departure to Louisville. When we landed, they announced that our flight had been delayed 1 hour. We were indeed relieved. That was short-lived, as when wede-planed we saw that the flight had been cancelled. The later flight was full as well as the morning flight. They booked us on a flight leaving Chicago this morning and arriving into Louisville at 1:00pm. (going through Pittsburgh) Rob, Michael, and Jerry started burning up the phones looking for alternatives. Could we get a van, a couple of cars, how about a hotel? We opted for the "other" option. We booked tickets on the last flight out on Southwest. That meant a 1 hour ride on the "L" from O'Hare to Midway. Though delayed, we arrived safely in Louisville at little after midnight.

A big thanks to Joe Costephens for driving down as well as for Diane Belt and Ellis Batson.

We're looking forward to sharing our weeklong experience with you all. A tentative count has us with over 1000 pictures and some video. (We won't make you look at all of them!)

God Bless you all and thank you so much for the prayers and other support.

Please keep Chris Smith and Scott Bartelt in your prayers as they travel today.

Scott W

Sunday in the D.R.

The Palm Sunday service at church yesterday was great. As Rob Jr. pointed out yesterday, not much could be understood from the message, but we could indeed pick out certain parts. It was interesting to put our (at least mine) limited Spanish to the test as we thumbed through the Bible to find the book of Juan and get to the specific chapter and verse. And then to read along silently as it was read aloud. Scott B graced the service with a great solo in Spanish. Though he didn't have his mic turned on, he could still be heard and I must admit, being one of the taller attendees in the service and having the speaker at my ear level, it was welcome relief. They like their music loud. They really get it going.

Besides the obvious of lifting Christ up, the men of the group have another theory for the volume level. In our dorm Saturday night, we had the pleasure (sarasm) of having a group below us enjoy their music (I used the term VERY loosly) at very loud levels Saturday night starting at 11:00pm. Couple that with what sounded like a sidewalk being jackhammered at 11:30 and then the "24 Hours of Santiago" moped/motorcycle rally with the pits being below us (I heard my last wine of the moped engine at 2:45am), our theory is that the Church is giving those late nighters a reason to get up and get going on a Sunday morning. God is indeed good! ;)

Our trip to the beach was a little more eventful than most of our trips. The President of the Dominican Republic has been in this area of the country starting on Friday. We passed his motorcade as we were heading to the beach and they were coming back from that area. It seems the folks up here have a little more moxie on the mopeds/motorcycles than in the city. They don't necessarily heed to the horn of the bus like the city folks do. Other than that, we're settled up here and relaxing a bit while we prepare for the trip home. We'll leave here at noonish to head back to Santiago. We'll pack up and head out first thing tomorrow.

No pictures today, as we have very limited access to the computer.

We can feel the prayers each day that are lifted up for us and we thank you for those. I often reflect to looking at the sign-up board for the prayer vigil for the trip and a big smile comes to my face. We have a wonderful family.

If any of my fourth grade boys are following this, thank you for your prayers and I look forward to sharing my trip with you. Cornerstone Class...a personal thanks for praying for me.

I think I speak for the entire team when I say that we miss our families. Jennie/Luke/Nick, I can't wait to see you tomorrow night. I miss you and love you.

Please keep lifing up those prayers for this team and the folks of the Domincan Republic.

In Christ!
Scott W.

Domingo de la manana Palm Sunday

Good Palm Sunday morning from Santiago. We have the opportunity to worship this morning at Will & Audrey's church and are looking forward to it (although we'll struggle to absorb the message in espanol). It will be great to worship with those who we've been sharing with. All week, we've talked about our part in the process of growing the kingdom and our specific efforts in the various areas we've spent time. Our construction effort in Hata del Yaque won't necessarily bear immediate fruit this Sunday as the church obviously is not finished, however, we have seen the final product in other neighborhoods and it is exciting and inspiring to know we're one of many who has helped in the process. Literally having a hand in helping a community build a church home (their St. John) is exceptionally humbling.
After church and lunch, we head north to the beach until tomorrow afternoon. There we'll share, relax, and begin the process of getting ready to return home.
We're praying for our St. John family today as you celebrate Palm Sunday and its significance in the greatest week in our history.
We love you and look forward to sharing with you upon our return.
Rob jr.

The attached video was taken this morning before breakfast. We've adopted the Emmaus tradition of singing grace before our meals....how do we sound?!?