Getting Ready To Go!

We have arrived safely in Fort Lauderdale, FL. We had a great day at the beach and a wonderful time at dinner together. After a team debriefing, we went to our rooms to get ready for a 3AM wake up call to be in the lobby by 345AM. Unless of course you were in Jeff Arnold's room (Tanner and Andy), you woke up at 330AM and needed to scamper to get to the lobby by 345AM.

Thus far things have been smooth sailing this side of the boarder. Everyone has their luggage. Relationships are blooming. Laughter is happening. A mixture of excitement and anxiousness is in the air. God has been graceful to us thus far in our travels and we pray He continues to be so. Even if things don't go according to plan, we know we're not outside the safety and will of God, and this gives us peace.

We are currently at the international airport, we have checked all our bags, and now we wait in great anticipation to begin our trip. We spoke last night about how following Jesus does not involve the "typical". Following Jesus is a stretch for those who take His call seriously, because it removes us from all we are familiar with. Even on this trip with reoccurring attendees, the new place in which we will be living for the week brings a sense of unknown. But I am confident that God will provide the comfort we need to know we can trust Him. There's nothing typical about following Jesus, and certainly leaving your family for a week, foregoing vacations, and living in less than normal conditions is not typical. God has something He wants to say to each person on this trip. He will speak differently but directly to each member of our team. I expect nothing less than God showing up in the lives of His children this week.

Continue to pray for our team. That no matter what happens, God's will is done and His name known. Pray that as we are blessing others, we will be blessed by our experiences. And that students and adults alike will drink deeply from the love of Christ and be "ruined" as a result of it.

When we get to Haiti, by the end of the day I'll have a better idea on our internet capabilities. If our internet access is limited, we will have someone back home that we'll be relaying information to that will update the blog at the end of each day.

Thank you for your prayers and may God bless your week!

Joel