Unexpected Detour

DAY 1 of Detour:

It would be no small coincidence that the VBS theme for Haiti this year is, "Everything is Possible with God" or that the daily point during VBS is "Trust God". The irony in all this is that our entire team is having to live this today as our two group leaders, Carrie and myself, are stuck in the middle of the Caribbean while the rest of our team is in Haiti, awaiting word from us.

It all started with our team having to take separate flights from LAX to Miami where we were all suppose to meet back up together for the last leg of the trip to Port Au Prince, Haiti. The first bump in the road began with Carrie, Luke, and my flight out of LAX to Tennessee running 15 minutes behind. (We only had a 65 minute scheduled layover in Tennessee so we knew it would already be tight.). But in God's faithfulness, we arrived with 30 minutes to go and hopped right on the next flight from TN. Then of course the road block began. Due to maintenance issues on the plane we were stuck on the tarmac for 1 hour which resulted I. Us getting on that connecting flight in Miami with the rest of our team. The rebooking desk informed us that they could get us out on the next available flight on Friday. Yep...FRIDAY!!!

Of course since our VBS is scheduled to start tomorrow with training, Friday wasn't going to cut it. So we did what we could and waited 2 hours for standby on the next flight out, but to no avail. All seats were booked. (Actually all the flights out to Port Au Prince for this week are over-booked.) By that point and time, the situation was beyond frustrating and we could only laugh at the adventure we knew God was leading us on.

After using our food voucher, which by the way was the only helpful thing our airline did to help us, we began to think out of the box. That is why I am now writing this from Puerto Rico as we try to make our way to the Dominican Republic.

Day 2 of Detour:

Last night, after flying on a 30 passenger plane to the Domonican, we arrived in Beautiful Santo Domingo at 7:30 in the evening. Finally someone actually helped us track where our luggage was and arranged to have it delivered to Port Au Prince, Haiti. We got to a hotel and were pleasantly surprised how nice everything was. We were still without internet access and reliable phones so we were happy to see a computer station open for hotel guests.. After a google search we were able to purchase one ticket and two standbys for a flight to Haiti. A hot shower and a bed were a welcome respite from the airplane seats we had spent the day in.

So here wrist now in La Isabella Airport, santo Domingo, waiting. Our hopes are to all three get on the plane, but do to a lack of being able to communicate effectively, we are in limbo until check-in time. (big thank you to my parents and friends from the Imperial Valley. It has been over 20 years since I used my Soanish but at least I could get us the basics!). Hopefully more updates to come!

Resting in God's hands and thankful for safety and provision in the midst of all this confusion.

God bless,
Monica
"Everything is possible with God!"
Posted from Monica's iPad