On Sunday, we all piled into our vehicles and headed back to Naples to catch an early train to Rome.  The train was very comfortable and it within a couple hours we were in Rome.  Our team divided itself into small groups, some went with a double decker bus tour, some took the subway, and others just ventured out on foot.

 

 

Thank you to those who faithfully followed our blog and prayed for us. It is a privalege and honor to serve the Lord each day. 

 

HOME! We made it! The Lord provided a safe flight from Madrid to Chicago (9 hours!) and then He made it possible for us to catch the first flight out of Chicago - 4:05 and we arrived in Cleveland to the greating of Dad & Mom Varner at 6:30 p.m.

Praise the Lord for a wonderful trip and all that He showed and taught us. We want to thank each of you for praying for us. We know that there were several churches and many, many others that prayed for us. We give God all the glory for allowing us to have this experience.

I want to remind each of you to come hear the testimonies of our team as they share this Sunday, August 10th at 10:30 a.m. It is going to be a wonderful time of giving praise to the Lord for all that He is and all that He has done during this trip.

Thank you so much for all that you have done.
In Christ's Love,

Pastor Aaron and Lisa (8:15 p.m.)

 

Madrid Airport update...11:20 a.m. (5:20)

WE GOT TWO SEATS! We are heading home today!! Praise the Lord for His provisions! We'll arrive in Chicago at 4:20 p.m. and then fly to Cleveland.

Love you all. Thank you again for your prayers!

Pastor Aaron and Lisa  

 

Madrid Airport update...10:45 a.m (4:45)

We were told that there were still 30 open seats and that our chances were very good to get on the flight. We have to go back to the desk at 11:05 to try and get our tickets. We've given it all to the Lord. He's Soverign!

Ciao for now...PA and Lisa 

 

Airport update Thursday at 8:57 am (2:58 a.m. WHBC time)

We have cleared customs, security and are now at the gates. We checked in with the information desk and are first on the list for stand-by's. Let's pray that the flight is not over-booked and that 2 people wanted to stay longer!

Ciao for now!

Pastor Aaron and Lisa  

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Well...maybe I should not have written we were coming home just yet! On Tuesday night we boarded our over-night train from Lisbon to Madrid. We were excited to be heading home but very sad to say goodbye to our friends.

The train was a cool experience, but it was not very cool all night as we broke down (stopped) several times throughout the night. The delays put us behind by 3 hours. We rushed to the airport in an attempt to catch our flight at noon, but with no sucess. We then search every way to the USA, but with no sucess. Needless to say, it was a very long day.

We now have stand-by tickets for Thursday, today's flight from Madrid to Chicago. We are hoping to get to the airport early and be the first in line for stand-by.

Lisa and I both slept well last night as we had a good night at the Best Western Hotel Villa de Barajas. Please pray with us that we would be able to come home today.

We will try to keep you updated on our status. We hope you have a fantastic day, and great job softball team for winning your first playoff game with only 9 guys!

Study your Bible today!

In Christ's Love,

Pastor Aaron and Lisa

 

 

Well, it's Friday.  The kids last day of camp, they go home tomorrow.  The theme for today's chapels are plugging in your strength.  Mike Smith with Doug translating led the morning chapel.  Aaron and Doug ran the evening chapel with 2 more salvations following the evening service.

 

 

Aaron and Lisa had to catch a cab to the airport at 4 AM since the subway was not running yet.  The rest of us got to sleep in a little, grab breakfast at the hotel and it was back to Madrid Airport.  For the most part, the flight to Chicago was long and uneventful.  Once we arrived in Chicago, some of the baggage that was checked in at Naples had made it and some did not.  So there were a few more people that had to do a baggage claim.  We spent 6 hours in O'Hare before our flight to Cleveland.  Once we boarded the plane, a storm rolled in and they had to change the direction of the take off strip to match the wind change.  So, after being in the plane and on the ground for an hour, we were finally airborn.  Other than a few spots of turbulance, we landed in Cleveland safely.  Bob, our bus driver, was there to take 19 of us back to West Hill.  25+ hours of being awake and we were finally home!