Run for the border!

Friday was our final day at the Center. We couldn't believe that our time to say good-bye had come so quickly! Our lives had been changed forever in a matter of just a few days! We had given our all to be the hands and feet of Christ. We had formed bonds with children that will last for a lifetime, and now we had to leave them in His hands, not knowing if we'll ever see them again. It was a painful good-bye with many tears and prayers and hugs. It had rained all night and was still raining; it seemed as if the whole world were crying for the sadness we all felt. We went back to our 'hotel' to retrieve our bags and make our trek to cross the border once again. We loaded onto the back of a truck, which would take us as far as it could get, and then we would have to walk the rest of the way. This time we were crossing after many hours of a steady rain, and we were crossing on market day! Market Day in the mud! Wow! Everyone should experience it once in their life! Mud up to your ankles! People filling every square inch of space, pushing, shoving! No room to move or breathe! Wall to wall people pushing wheelbarrows filled with their goods, carrying their wares on their heads, pushing their way through the press of the crowd, shouting for people to let them through when there was literally nowhere to move! An occasional car or motorcycle honking to get through! (Good luck with that!) Here we were, 17 Americans, led by a young mission volunteer from the Center, tromping through the mud, our bags tied onto a cart, trying to push through to the other side without being separated. By God's grace we made it! (New meaning...Press on!) We loaded onto the vahicle that would carry us back to Santiago, Dominican Republic, for a night's stay in the hotel before our trip home. Only two of us had been pick-pocketed, no one's bag had been taken, and no one had been left behind, what more could we ask.

It was a quiet trip back to Santiago as we rested and reflected on the events of the last week. We would never be the same and never forget the precious faces of the children that God had used to bless us beyond all we ever could have imagined!