Elim in the DR: Trip Update (Christian views on disability)
June 14, 2010
It’s Monday morning, bright and early, and we’re waiting to take off from New York. We left O’Hare in cloudy Chicago just after 6 am. That’s early – especially when you have to get to the airport a couple hours early to get through security.
We met our two co-laborers at the gate: Bob Bouwer (senior pastor at Faith Church in Dyer, Indiana) and his son Grant, a sophomore International Development major at Calvin College. Bob and his church have a long history of partnership with our Outreach Trip hosts, Luis and Barb Manon, who are already down in the Dominican Republic awaiting our arrival.
The Elim team is comprised of school staff Pam Connolly and Sharon Duncan, Adult Services staff Trisha Stingel, adult services consumer Mimi (who you’ll get to know better as the week goes on), and Elim President Bill Lodewyk.
As I sit here preparing for the trip ahead, I look forward to seeing the fulfillment of something we’ve discussed at Elim for the last couple years – to personally witness that God can and does display His work in the lives of our adults through their service in the Elim HOPE Packs Program. Over the next couple weeks, I will be spending a lot of time updating this blog with pictures and video, including some from our recent Called to Serve event. Stay tuned to this blog to keep up with our Dominican Republic team.
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