TBC Dominican Republic Mission Trip: We Have Arrived in the D.R.!

From Julie Wills:

Our morning started bright and early at 7:30 as we loaded buses to travel from our Atlanta hotel to the Atlanta airport. This was after traveling from Madison to Atlanta Friday night and getting to bed quite late after unloading the bus and checking in. We then spent the majority of today waiting in airports and traveling. After arriving in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and working our way through customs, we had an hour and a half bus ride (on an old, yellow, un-airconditioned school bus) before reaching the city of La Romana and the Casa Pastoral, our home away from home for the week. We had stopped for a very late lunch at a quaint roadside restaurant between Punta Cana and La Romana, and almost immediately after arriving at Casa Pastoral, the nice ladies had dinner ready for us. So we have been well-fed today! We then walked to the local “Jumbo Mart” (similar to a super duper Fred’s with groceries, appliances, clothes and hardware) and we spent the rest of the night making crafts for the children at church tomorrow, practicing our praise songs in Spanish, and having an evening devotion led by Adina.

While we spent the majority of the day traveling, sitting, waiting and traveling some more, we also had a great day of fellowship with each other. We have the widest age range of the three mission trips I’ve been on so far, with our youngest team member being 14, and our oldest being 76. Most of us knew each other before the trip, but we have a couple of new people who knew almost no one. However, after the last day and a half of togetherness on buses, airplanes, hotel and dormitory, I believe we all know each other significantly better than we did when we left Madison. We are excited to work together on our projects here and to share our love for God and His love for all mankind with the people of La Romana and the batays. I myself am looking forward to continuing to build relationships with our Trinity team members, making friends with the people of the D.R., and hopefully doing some things that will improve at least a few lives and show the love of God and Trinity for the people of the D.R.