On the bus home....

It took us about 10 minutes short of 24 hours to get home. Yup. A LOT longer than we had thought. Unfortunately, we ran out of gas in rural Arkansas. Fortunately, the bus driver managed to get us off the Interstate and onto a road, coming to a stop right in front of a school! We knew God was at work, was there with us. With one exception, all the vehicles that went by stopped to see if we needed help. One of those vehicles contained someone who had a key to the school. He let us in there, started up one of those big fans since there was no air conditioning on at the time, and let us stay there even after he and his wife and grandson left. It was a consolidated school located literally in the middle of farmland -- fields all around it. We did find out that it was moderately near Wilson, AR. I haven't looked that up yet. I was thankful to be in there since the bus was VERY warm and the mosquitos were out in full force.

We were brought some fuel and we made it to Blythesburg (Blythesville?), which was our destination at that point anyway. Most of us ate at the McDonald's there. As we were finishing, they were closing up. I went back to thank them for serving us. I found out that we were the 10th bus they served yesterday!

We made it back shortly before noon today. The kids were great. They weren't fighting, they weren't overly loud. They were interacting with each other, smiling and laughing. I think we were all glad to finally get off the bus for the last time. Our drivers were fun but we were ready to go home.....

Saying good-bye to the kids and the adult leaders took a bit of time. It seems like we really 'bonded' with the folks from Mobridge. I hope we can continue in relationship with each of the churches with whom we traveled!

Again, I thank you for all your support on this trip. We will be sharing things with you over the next couple of months. We have each had our lives impacted by this trip. Thank you for making it possible for us to go. Talk to you soon!