The Beginning

High School Mission Trip

The Methodist Habitat, Bahamas

7/13/08

Day one began by the 19 of us meeting at the church to depart for the trip. We met at 8:30 to leave at 9pm. Koven came in just a little late thinking we were supposed to have met earlier. We left the church at about 9:30am. A little over an hour into the trip somebody requests for a bathroom stop. We needed to stop quick. Only this time it was a little different. The tables had turned. This time it was me, Bryant, requesting the stop. I felt bad, too. Usually I am the one who is asked to stop, and I tend to respond, “just a little while longer.” Just about 11:30am we stop for gas before getting to the airport. We have just West Palm. I wanted to make sure Traci and Cathy had enough to make it back. Well, as we pull into the gas station, we pop a tire. Knowing this could really set us back, we start making calls to churches, people we know, tire shops (not open yet), and then the airport. A shuttle was arranged and sent on their way to pick us up. In the meantime, we have got in touch with Tire Kingdom who can change the tire within the half hour. I try to call and cancel the shuttle service. They said they would arrive in 45 minutes, at this point I am realizing it is half an hour and as I look up they are pulling in. The bus has just left with all of our luggage and Jake. All the youth and adults are eating in the McDonald’s or Miami Subs next door. So, it’s just me, two shuttles, two drivers, hanging out. The youth all see the shuttle and I called Tonya and out came everyone. And off we go. Airport bound and one step closer now to our final arrival Andros, in the Bahamas. The luggage on the church bus arrives to the airport about half an hour after we do. We have checked in with our passports and received our flight tickets, which are just laminated numbers. We have all been weighed, gotten our luggage weighed and are now simply waiting to go. As we prepare to board the plane, I begin taking pictures. I know the plane will be small, but not sure how small. Well, it was about four foot in diameter, which is plenty to sit comfortably, but not enough for any of us to stand. You’ll see the pictures. We board the plane, select our seats, and wait. This small, claustaphobic size plane sits in line to take off for an hour, longer than the actual flight would take. While in the air the flight experiences some turbulence. Cue the girls. “Aghhhhhh!” Finally, our flight begins to land. We were able to look out the front to see the landing strip. Actually, look out the windshield. This was actually pretty cool. We land at an airport that likely sees one flight a day. They said that rarely is there more. We sat in customs, filled out paperwork and began looking for the gentleman; we would come to know as Andre. Nowhere to be found. So, I ask for a local phone to call his cell. As the lady in the customs office sees the area code she exclaims, “You’re on the wrong island.” Huh!? We actually did land where the itinerary stated. We were in the right place and the wrong place at all the same time. We were on the south end of Andros, which we should have been on the north end. This is what a slight miscommunication can lead to. Being islands, we needed a boat to make the distance. The customs agent begins making calls. She says, “I found a boat to take you there, it will cost $800. Do you want it?” Not having a spare $800 on me I said that we needed to speak to Andre first. He said he would take care of it, but we would still need to pay $75 for the three cabs to get us to the dock. I had that and on our way we went. This would take nearly two hours to arrive. However, a blessing in disguise. We did not have any boat rides planned and at this point the sun was beginning to set. A sunset cruise in the Bahamas? What could be better? We finally arrive at Fresh Port. Andre is on his way to pick us up and to take care of our boat fare. He brings two buses and we load up to go. Interesting thing is that they drive on the left side of the road, but almost all the cars are American built and have the steering wheel on the left side, too. It makes it really hard to tell where the oncoming traffic for those that are new to this. Finally, arrive to Camp Makepeace just before 10pm. What should have only been a four hour trip, now had taken us 13 hours. Yet, we arrive warmly welcomed by smiling faces who are excited to see us, have prepared our dinner, spaghetti (delicious, too) and it is still warm. As we looked back over the day’s events and the surprises along the way, everyone had fun. Every felt a peace about them. While some got frustrated, it never showed. They knew that in the hearts, they were here because they wanted to serve. What took place was different than we expected, but everywhere we were blessed.