Dear Friends,

I just stepped off the plane from flying all night.  In my morning fog, I thought I would try to update everyone on on life.

I am heading out for the last trip of a 7 week blast of travel. 35,000 miles later, my body is a little worn, and my family is ready for me to stay home for a while.  However, with one last trip to the Dominican Republic, I am doing ok. I have a mission.  Not only will I be hanging with kids this week, but  I will be doing a little pre-trip planning for our August church mission trip with 25 people and youth from our church.  This is the trip that my family will come on.  This is the trip that Isabel will get to drop shoes for the first time and watch her ministry in motion.

A while back, we started fundraising for the trip, and it was a humbling experience as friends, family and strangers donated.  Isabel was the first to raise her $1650, and the rest of us are getting closer.  I have just been blessed by the amount of support others have willingly given us to have this experience and opportunity and to allow my children the opportunity to minister to the children in the Dominican Republic.  I am overwhelmed by the prayers and love.

500 hundred shoes have been carefully packed and sit in storage waiting for our youth to deliver to those that need them the most.  We are bringing baby wipes to clean feet.  After my last trip of seeing all the blisters on the feet of children and touching their dirty feet, we want to be able to put shoes on clean little feet.  The one thing that we could use is socks.  If you want to help, we are looking for sock donations. Most of the children don’t own socks.  Let me know if you can help.

I am not feeling very deep and spiritual this morning after my lovely four hours of sleep on my Delta flight, but I am inspired by what lies ahead and I have felt this overwhelming sense of God’s presence as I have traveled the globe.  He has helped me through the times that my heart has ached for home.

This time, I am heading to Barahona, Dominican Republic.  I hear it’s beautiful.  It’s about 1 hour from the southern Haitian border, and situated on the beach.  Not bad I say.  But I am predicting, based on the hotel, that I won’t have Internet, so this may be my last post for a while.  But hey, if I can, I will be blogging.  I will be updating through twitter and facebook though.

I really appreciate you all for your kind notes and following my journeys.  You all are all such a blessing to me, and so often you send me your prayers, and kind words, and I love you for that.  Thank you.

Finally, I do ask that you would pray for me.  Pray that I can give this trip what it needs, and that I have the same energy on this trip as my first trip.  These people, these children deserve that.  Finally, pray that my journey back from Barahona on Friday is safe, as I travel alone and leave my group as they go into Haiti.  Pray for my husband and children as they have missed me, and  pray for the children we will be with this week.

Many Blessings,

Patricia