The trip there was pretty uneventful, it was over night so we hardly slept but we were kinda excited so it was ok :)
Mark (one of the missionaries already serving at the base) met us at the airport and drove us back. The highway was...interesting lol, not in very good shape. The 3 mile driveway off the highway to the mission is really bad, and this is the dry season!
We were greeted by Marks wife Sarah and their little girl, Avi, along with a guy named Fran who was staying there at the time. Fun fact: Fran works at WPFF and knows Joel's brother Corey :)
Us with the Bradbury's:
I won't go into every detail but we spent a lot of time learning about the mission and spending time with Mark and Sarah. We also went into the village several times, had dinner with the pastor and his wife, met the two other families of missionaries, went to men's and women's bible studies and the youth service. We got to do some exploring of the base and it's property, eat at a local restaurant twice, and of course ask LOTS of questions!
The mission base is definitely in need of repair. The salt air deteriorates anything that can rust rather quickly. The couple that is there in charge of teams, which is a huge responsibility, don't have the time or resources needed to keep up with maintenance of such a large place. We just know this is a perfect place to use our gifts - especially Joey, it's seriously perfect.
The living conditions are pretty basic, but we will have everything we need :) The drinking and shower water is collected rain water, and electricity is from solar panels. Our cabana:
We were sure this was the place for us but we needed to talk to the owners/directors who are here in the states, that's why I didn't update right away. We Skyped with them on Friday and talked for over an hour. We let them know exactly how we felt and they agreed to everything we were saying. They would definitely like us to come! We needed to get them our references and then they will present us to their board to make the final decision. So we are waiting on that but meanwhile making preparations as if we are for sure going. We will be sending out newsletters with more information once we get some other things in order and the official go-ahead.
Thank you all so much for your prayers, we felt them every minute we were gone!
ps you can see all the pics of the trip on my (Jes's) facebook if you want
