Back Home Safe and Sound!

It's July 26, and we are safely home in Regina. Praise the Lord for a safe return, and, in fact, for the whole trip. God has been very good to us, and it was a privilege to be a part of this mission trip. Please keep Karen and Ruth in your prayers; Karen's cold is still hanging on, and Ruth has picked one up.

This will be the last diary item for this blog! You will have to catch one of us in person to get more details. We had an early start with a wake-up call at 4:00 a.m., and were on the plane to Lima (via La Paz) by 7:00. Both flights were good, and we landed in Lima about 9:30. Then began the long wait. We split into two groups: seven of us left the airport, and three stayed at the airport.

The first group took a taxi into Lima, and did some sight-seeing. Ray's Spanish came to the rescue, and he even arranged for the cab driver to make a return trip at 8:00 for a ride back to the airport. Congratulations, Ray. Well done. A lot of us were looking for coffee, and indeed our luggage smells like coffee right now. Wayne wanted authentic Peruvian coffee, and did some serious hunting for it. We have teased him for his sense of direction, and he managed to prove that it is intact by returning safely to the group! The Group of Seven (appropriate - Wayne returned with some art) returned to the airport to wait with the other three for the long flight to Toronto.

Our flight to Toronto was uneventful; it was our connection in TO that caused some concern. We had about an hour between touchdown and take-off, and it wasn't enough time. Our luggage from Lima was late getting off the plane, we had to go through Customs, and some of us almost missed the flight. However, God kept us together and we all made it safely on for an uneventful flight to Regina.

Was it ever nice to see members of our church in the airport! It was nice to see Regina, and it was nice to be speaking English and enjoying all the amenities of home, but it was so nice to see some familiar faces after two weeks. Thanks to all those who showed up at the airport. There was lots of hugging, even though the ten of us are a little grimy and certainly a little aromatic.

So...our trip is over. What next? Well, for the ten of us, it's probably a shower and some sleep. Then, we have some thinking to do as we process what we learned and present it to the church. We will need to think about how this will affect our church, and how it will affect us as individuals. May God make us eager to know what changes He wants in our lives, to be faithful to follow His leading, and to be faithful in our support and prayer for our new Bolivian Christian friends.

With heartfelt thanks,
The Diez-peradoes

Posted by Nadine