Sunday... Getting Acclimated

Please make sure you make it to the end of this post. You won't be disappointed!

Praise the Lord! Thank you for your prayers, faithful friends. We made it through security quickly and with no issues. We see this not as coincidence but as God's direct hand guiding our way.
Here are Matthew and Diane exiting the airport in Santiago.

 And here we are loading ALL of our luggage on a pickup truck...

And here Tim Houck is driving the truck which is scary-full of luggage. We all packed in a van following him and watching every turn and speed bump hoping the pile wouldn't topple.

We are pleased to tell you we all (luggage included) made it to our hotel and got to bed around 2 am.

Here is our hotel, Dexter enjoying a cup of morning coffee before church, and the colorful street:

We had the privilege of attending Primera Iglecia Bautista de Central de Santiago this morning (that is 1st baptist church of Santiago). It was a special morning where a deaf congregation that worships in the same building later in the day, joined with the morning "hearing" worship service. We worshiped in three languages: Sign, Spanish, and English. What a taste of what we will hear when every tribe and language will praise our Creator God! Check out these photos and videos:

A skit/song from the deaf church about Christ's love and loving each other. We worshiped together to both a Spanish-sung set of music and a sign-led set. The presence of God's joy and freedom among the people was contagious. We might stay longer so we can be here next Sunday! "yo soy libre!"

Tim introducing our group

The sermon from Luke 5 preached in both sign-language and slowly spoken Spanish (which a good number of us actually followed!)

Check out this video clip of some heartfelt, joyful, praise to the God whose praise reaches to the ends of the earth. (If it doesn't load, we will try to get it up soon...)

We spent the remainder of the day learning about the history of the Dominican Republic and getting to know each other and preparing for our service tomorrow.

And last but not least, to finish off the night: the second in our "Dexter and Kenna Love Series..." sharing some fettuccine alfredo on the terrace with an authentic Dominican band playing in the background.