Day 1: July 13

So day 1 of the journey and what an adventure it has already been!? 13 of us ready and willing for The Lord to work through us left the sweet southern town of Memphis, Tennessee today and made a whirlwind trip to the Big Apple. We arrived at Memphis International at 12:30 for the prayer and send off from Johnny ---- the director of Global Outreach at Hope Church. Of course, Lashunda was late,  but she finally arrived and we checked our bags, got our boarding passes and headed through security. 

The first leg of our trip was a flight from MEM to Charlotte, NC. We had a great flight until the pilot slammed on the breaks. I thought I was going to end up in the cockpit. 

We arrived in NC and had just enough time to grab some dinner and head to the gate. Once we arrived at the gate, we began discussing our plans for the following day. Dallas was behind us and we realized she was becoming frantic. She had lost her wallet! She decided to trace back her steps to Quiznos and I volunteered to go with her. We started out walking at a generous pace and she steadily increased her speed. Soon we were jogging and then running through the airport. I couldn't get over myself, I was running! Then I became winded, and Dallas ran far ahead of me. I just said, "meet you up there," as she ran forward. When I finally brought up the rear to Quiznos Dallas was digging in the trash with someone on the airport staff. It was not a pretty sight. Suddenly, her wallet appeared! In the most unlikely place, her purse! Thank The Lord she found it and all was calm. We will try and let it slide this once....

Then we boarded the plane for NYC and it was starting to rain pretty hard. The pilots slingshot us into the air for a fairly smooth flight and in no time we were making our descent into the Big Apple. After we got off the plane, we caught a shuttle bus to the Sheridan Hotel of the Bronx. Not to be confused with the Sheraton by ANY means... I don't think anyone would argue that this place is special. We even had some unique artwork on one of our lampshades that yet remains to be identified. 

Tomorrow we are spending the day doing what we please in the city. A group of us are going to the Brooklyn Tabernacle for worship. We have to arrive at least an hour early according to Pastor Rufus And wait in line! Ain't that the way it should be! Some have chosen to attend worship at Tim Keller's church. I hear some are touring ground zero and the monuments there, the botanical gardens, and one team member is even traveling to Brooklyn to see her son's art show! Isn't God good? 

Please pray for us as we do our best to do the Lord's work this week (and bare with me as I type this on my ipad) 

Blessings,

Caroline