Hello everyone, we are finally stateside! Seems we had to pass through an obstacle course to get here though and it seems like déjà vu all over again. Last year, there was a split in the Cap-Haitien runway and we were rerouted by bus through the Dominican Republic. We had Pastor Dick and Roxy Iverson with us so they got to experience riding for hours to Santiago, hopping into a taxi and making a mad dash to the airport only to find them calling all our names on the loudspeaker to come board the plane at that moment. By the grace of God, we made it in the nick of time to make that flight.

This year was an experience of a different sort. John dropped us off at the Cap-Haitien airport at 4:00 p.m. for our 4:45 flight which eventually turned into 7:30 p.m. We wondered if we were going to make it at all when we saw a packed waiting room of disgruntled travelers that did not make it onto the previous day’s flight. Someone said there had been mechanical problems with their plane. We all waited together praying that everyone would be able to return to Miami together. Fortunately, American Airlines sent in a larger plane and everyone was able to board. After sitting for a while on the runway,  the airport staff tried to balance the weight created by the extra tables and equipment brought in by an orthopedic team with the gas that had to be emptied into other holding tanks to even things out. You can only imagine our relief as we finally ascended into the now dark sky to make our way to Miami’s shores.

After arriving stateside, we wearily walked through the massive terminal snaking  our way through immigration and filling out info on a kiosk machine proving with our passports that we were valid. After claiming our baggage, we finally made it to our hotel room at 10:45. We fell into bed exhausted and elected not to make our 6:30 a.m. flight the next day. Appearing at the ticket counter the next morning, however, we were dismayed to find there were no connecting flights to North Carolina. All the major cities anywhere near our destination were all booked due to people traveling  back from Spring Break. Charlotte, Raleigh, Wilmington, and Jacksonville…. rien! So, we were obligated to stay an extra night in Miami and fly out the next day. Happily, we made it to Jacksonville yesterday (Tuesday) only to discover that our baggage didn’t make it.  Fortunately,  it was delivered to us this morning. Whew!

One bright spot in the whole trip, however, was that we were bumped up to First Class on our flight from Miami to Charlotte. That was nice.

At any rate, we are so happy to be stateside. Thanks for your prayers for a safe trip and please remember John who will be in Haiti until May 25th finishing up his school year of teaching. It’s been a L-O-N-G year. Great things are happening, yet we are in great need of rest and reunion with family and friends. We look forward to seeing many of you who have prayed for and supported us in this great ministry.

rien: nothing, in French