Sadness

We returned from church today in Monte Llano to find the Makarios house empty of Brian and Bethany. We know they finished packing and were off to Santo Domingo this morning. We had a summer staff meeting last night and discussed how blessed we were to see their interactions with everyone in the villages, especially the kids. They've been building relationships here for two years and lots of people were sad to see them go. We were sad to see them go.

The group from Bethany's Church, Lombard Chapel, had a great trip. I came down in the middle, but the high school girls were really enjoying their time in the villages and seemed to be having a great time ministering together. They did puppet shows, played games with the kids, and distributed school supplies. Some of them left inspirational messages in the Makarios Journal in the house that we might quote here for everyone to see.

As for my arrival, my plane from Miami to Puerto Rico on Tuesday was delayed and I missed my flight and had to spend the night in San Juan. Sharla put me in contact with the nephew of one of her friends in Austin who picked me up and I stayed at his place. Not only did we have a great meal together while watching Seinfeld, but he had me edit a job application for him. I got to Puerta Plata the next day and was met by Rueben (who had a very nice sign for me) but my luggage did not arrive until Thursday. So I spent two days in the same pair of clothes and the third in some of Brian's. I guess it was a good adjustment to life here.