On our way!

Welcome back to our story! Your story! God's story!

As with all good Mission stories, we always start with two rules.

1. Plan everything! Make sure you plan every detail you are aware of, leaving little or nothing to chance.

2. Be prepared to change those plans.

Just one week before leaving for Brookport, and to check our final details, Pastor Eric made a call to our coordinator to see if anything had changed. As it turned out, yes there was a change - our coordinator no longer worked there!

So in the interest of being led on a journey into the unknown, much as Abraham and Sarah may have done, though with less pressure, we checked in with another person who will be our guide this week. Our task list is less fuzzy, and our plans continue strongly into our second 'rule.'

This brings us to Wednesday afternoon, when we all met at Hope Lutheran Church in Buffalo Grove, IL for a wonderful send off lunch. We had a chance to catch up with our mission team mates, and meet some new friends from other congregations. Spirits were high, and smiles were all around as we waited for our bus.

Pastor Martha, as is her rich and wise way, shared with us what essentially is a Prayer Partner dynamic for our trip. We each pulled another person's name from a basket who we don't know very well, and are to pray for this person, revealing ourselves only at the end of the week.

Pastor Martha, sending us with a task of prayer.

 After lunch, we all boarded our air conditioned motor coach, piloted by the same wonderful driver as last year, Laura. We gathered for congregation pictures, and of course our group photo.

Our group shot. A motley crew with hearts of gold!

Our drive went well, stopping in Mt Vernon for a buffet dinner, arriving in Peducah, KY at our hotel at 9pm. We all settled in for a good night's sleep, and prepared for our first day of work beginning Thursday morning.