Day 1 - Arrival

We made it!

We decided to meet at Buffalo airport at 4 am… which meant waking up at 1:30 for most of us. Of course there were the select few that decided to not go to bed ;)

There were a few mishaps along the way, but nothing too serious. Jesse was only called Jessica a few times today, so only his pride was hurt a little. As Braelyn, Emily, Victoria, and Dustin were driving along the highway, around 2:30 they realized that they may have forgotten to close the tailgate of the truck, which meant that their luggage could have been spread out all over southern Ontario. Luckily, none of their luggage was lost and they continued along in a safe manner.

Once we were in the airport, checking bags and security went very smoothly. The good fortunes of our team did not last long. We boarded the plane in Buffalo and all was well, when suddenly we couldn’t land for an hour and a half! This led to flying in circles in the air above JFK, which made several people feel nauseous. It also ensued panic in our hearts when we realized we might not have made our connecting flight to Santo Domingo in time.

We hurried to wait. We finally boarded the plane only to have to wait for two hours on the tarmac for no apparent reason. Once we finally set off from JFK at 10:30 instead of 8:30 our stomachs growled in anticipation of the lunch we would soon receive. Emily got a little carried away with asking for three snacks, instead of the regular one.

Once we finally arrived in Santo Domingo, we were replenished with some delightfully amazing pizza. Our driver and EduDeo guide met us at the airport, and transported us and our luggage to Camp Buenos Nuevos. While driving we really saw the difference between Canada and Dominican, a third-world country, and it really opened our eyes to how God works in mysterious ways. The beauty and friendliness of the people here have inspired us to establish relationships with people and to help them in any way we can.

Tomorrow is our first day of work, and we’re really excited for the opportunity and blessing that God has given us.

P.S. we will be posting photos tomorrow :)

Thank you all for the support we’ve received and God bless you all. Please continue to pray for our well-being and success here, as well as the people.