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TEAM
MEMBERS
Charles Smith
Laura Smith
Chuck Smith
Fran Wells
Ann Brancroft
Ann Phillips
Christine Reuss
Sheryl Thornton
Wes Thornton
David Hurst
Cully Dorer
Bryan Sisson
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Fran Wells' journal entry from Wednesday, June 25
On Our Way Home
One more early morning – really early. We had to be ready to leave at 4:30 am. Ann and I headed for the lobby with all our luggage, only to be trapped in the elevator at the 7th floor. As I pressed the alarm, Ann screamed for help. She was heard, and soon we were released. We piled into a minibus with the luggage on top and made our way up the winding road leading up the sides of the bowl that holds the city of La Paz. At the airport we had to bid farewell to Cully, as he had a different flight to Santa Cruz. He will be in Montero until August. We immediately missed his smiling face.
The flight to Miami was without incident, except that they had run out of custom forms in English, so we had to rely on some help from our Spanish-speaking team members to fill our the forms written in Spanish.
In the Miami airport we had an incident on the escalator. David was in front of me when he fell. I held on to both railings for dear life so I wouldn’t fall backwards and start a domino effect. Someone pulled David off at the top, and I thought we had it made, but the people behind were pouring off the escalator, and we ended up with a big pile-up of people before an employee was able to turn it off. Nobody was seriously hurt, but I think there were some bruises the next day. In line at the immigration booth, one man pushed by another and knocked him down. He fell right at my feet and was furious with the other man, but no fisticuffs.
Going through customs Charles was called in for interrogation. We had a few anxious moments until he was finally released.
We were ready to board our plane at last. However, Sheryl had no seat assignment in the computer although her ticket showed one. American Airlines strikes again! Sheryl was assured that she would get on, but the rest of us already on the plane were not aware of this, so we frantically asked the attendants about her. Just before take-off she arrived, much to the relief of all of us. Needless to say, we were so glad to see Stave Smith at the Atlanta airport with the church bus. Thanks, Steve. We got back to the church about 10:15 pm. It had been a long day.
We have had wonderful support from VHUMC for this trip to Bolivia. The generous donations thrilled us. We took money to Kay and filled 8 suitcases with items for the school and the church in Montero. We were undergirded by many prayers (thank you, Emily) and the thoughtful reminders from many. All of this helped us in our work in Bolivia. We give a great big ”thank you” to the Sunday School classes, UMW circles, individuals, and church staff for all they have done for us. We are returning home with much less luggage, but with hearts filled with love poured out on us from our home church and from the people of Montero.
We are filled with admiration for the work Kay is doing and for the director of the school, for her local pastor (also the chaplain at the school, and for her district superintendent. All of these are strong supporters of her work, just as you, our church family, have been our strong supporters.
Muchas gracias!