the Price is Right!

At 4:30 Saturday we picked up a very tired, noticeably heavier, happy group of men at the Cap-Haitien aiport! Luke, Matt, Paul and Bright have returned safely from their stateside adventure with dozens of stories, hundreds of pictures (almost HALF of them of overpasses, bridges, the interstate, parking lots and other roads!), and glowing from two weeks of spiritual (and physical :) feeding. They are all thrilled to be back home, and were loaded down with gifts for their families.

Their first story to share was of their most recent adventure. They boarded their plane from Texas to Florida only to discover that they had all been bumped up to first class! For two hours they were waited on hand and foot, given hot towels, a four-course meal, endless drinks, and sat in huge comfy chairs. "Every time I took a sip," Luke said, "that lady would come back and say, 'Could I get you some more? Can I get you anything else?' and I was confused, because when I flew the other times, the lady never asked me that!"

To add to the fun, when Matt came out of the bathroom, there stood Bob Barker, of "The Price is Right" !!! They guys didn't know who that was, but were quite excited to be flying with an American celebrity!

They have all decided that "In the Front!" is the only way to fly :)

Luke said that the "empty" roads were the hardest thing to get used to...no bikes, no wheelbarrows, no school children, no goats! One of his favorite things was the new idea of a "buffet". Because they ate most of their meals in the cafeteria, for the first time ever the guys saw endless amounts of food, and were allowed to take as much as they wanted!

"There was this place," Luke told me wide-eyed, "Where there were EIGHT types of ice cream, and you could get as much as you wanted of any kind after ANY meal you wanted! When I found that special place, I went there after every single meal!" AH, ice cream bars are something I just cannot think about without becoming homesick! I'm glad someone took full advantage of the opportunity...I would have been right there with him!

They also loved the zoo, which was labeled "so cool and huge!"

"Was two weeks too long or too short?" I asked, and the guys all agreed that it was too long to be away from their loved ones, and too short to absorb all of the teaching they received at Wesley. Luke, Paul and Bright heartily agreed with Matt that Wesley Biblical Seminary is a really special place, "healthy, spiritually saturated and dedicated to the study of Scripture." I think they may have all loved that, and the people they met there, the most (even more than the ice cream bar.)

They still have many stories to share, but I wanted you to know they are home safely and thank you for your prayers! What an awesome opportunity, not just for them, but for all of us who stayed here to glean from all that they learned, and are still learning, about the Bible and our Savior!

I'm not going to post the all the pictures they took, but here is a sampling of what they all did the past two weeks and of America from their perspective :)