AUGUST 1, 2009. SATURDAY....STARTING THE TRAVEL
The Yellow Shirts Work Again!
The first day of a trip is always full of tiring, sometimes boring events, all mixed in with nervousness (What will we
find in Peru? Will all of our luggage make it there? Will I get sick while we’re there?) and excitement (all the
planning for 6 months is over, now it’s time….). It’s not really a time to be completely calm and take a nap.
The team met at the Stauffer garage at 9:50 AM, and started loading the bags into the CCUMC church bus. We all
said good-byes to those staying in New Smyrna Beach, and new NSB resident Grandpa Stauffer said a prayer for
us, reminding us we are told that whatever we do for any of God’s children, it is as though we were doing it for God
himself. We took the customary group photo, all 9 of us in our bright yellow CCUMC shirts.
The bus trip to the Orlando airport went smoothly (thank you, Paul!), and we got a Sky Cap to load all the bags
onto a cart. He piled them high onto a single cart, and a few of them only fell off the huge heap once. We got
through the line to the counter after a half hour, but the line through Security was amazingly long, and it took about
50 minutes. Finally we got something to eat, and then boarded and departed on time. In Atlanta (yes, we had to
go to Atlanta to get to South America), our flight was over-booked, and they kept asking for 9 people to volunteer
to wait until the following day. Although there are 9 of us, we were not taking this as a sign from God that we were
to stay in Atlanta.
The flight to Lima left 90 minutes late, and it took 6 hours to travel the 3300 miles to Peru, so it was after midnight
when we got in.
Now, the next big hurdle: clearing Customs.
As our group of 9 gathered up our 18 checked bags and crates onto 6 push carts, we were approached by a man
in an official uniform. Obviously, we were some kind of “grupo”, standing out in the crowd because of our yellow
shirts. Only Mackenzie spoke Spanish, and he found her quickly. He let her know that he was the chief guy for
Customs, and he needed to know what was in these 4 crates and boxes (that carried all the dental equipment and
chair). We couldn’t really tell at that point if he wanted to be friendly or if he wanted to exert the power of his
uniform.
He asked for any official paperwork we had, and he was shown the official letter of invitation to the country that had
been provided by Missionary Ventures, and the copy of the letter sent to us by our missionary Susan Holowecky.
He studied these while Mackenzie told him what our mission was all about. He told us that his job was to inspect all
the medicines, to make sure that none of them were expired or illegal. We would have had to empty all the bags
and fish out all the medicines and supplies…. Ahhrrggg! Mackenzie kept talking to him.
Then, to our surprise he said that he trusted us and that he would let us pass through the Customs line without
inspecting ANYTHING! He led us and all our carts to a closed off area, opened the line up and pointed us
through. When another Customs agent stepped up and held up his hand out to stop us, our new Customs boss
friend called out to him and had him step aside. We glided through like a fast moving train, and we were out the
door in 30 seconds.
And there was Susan, waving across the room full of people to get our attention. We were here! The yellow shirts
saved us again….instead of an hour of frustration after our 14 hours of travel, we were here….now!
Within minutes, we were in 2 big vans and headed for the hotel. We sat and talked with Susan until 2:30 AM, and
then went to bed. With a 6:30 AM wake-up time, Susan offered 2 bits of advice:
“OK. Everybody sleep quick.”
And….
“Get up in time to take a warm shower; it’ll be the last one you’ll get for the next week.”
The Yellow Shirts Work Again!
The first day of a trip is always full of tiring, sometimes boring events, all mixed in with nervousness (What will we
find in Peru? Will all of our luggage make it there? Will I get sick while we’re there?) and excitement (all the
planning for 6 months is over, now it’s time….). It’s not really a time to be completely calm and take a nap.
The team met at the Stauffer garage at 9:50 AM, and started loading the bags into the CCUMC church bus. We all
said good-byes to those staying in New Smyrna Beach, and new NSB resident Grandpa Stauffer said a prayer for
us, reminding us we are told that whatever we do for any of God’s children, it is as though we were doing it for God
himself. We took the customary group photo, all 9 of us in our bright yellow CCUMC shirts.
The bus trip to the Orlando airport went smoothly (thank you, Paul!), and we got a Sky Cap to load all the bags
onto a cart. He piled them high onto a single cart, and a few of them only fell off the huge heap once. We got
through the line to the counter after a half hour, but the line through Security was amazingly long, and it took about
50 minutes. Finally we got something to eat, and then boarded and departed on time. In Atlanta (yes, we had to
go to Atlanta to get to South America), our flight was over-booked, and they kept asking for 9 people to volunteer
to wait until the following day. Although there are 9 of us, we were not taking this as a sign from God that we were
to stay in Atlanta.
The flight to Lima left 90 minutes late, and it took 6 hours to travel the 3300 miles to Peru, so it was after midnight
when we got in.
Now, the next big hurdle: clearing Customs.
As our group of 9 gathered up our 18 checked bags and crates onto 6 push carts, we were approached by a man
in an official uniform. Obviously, we were some kind of “grupo”, standing out in the crowd because of our yellow
shirts. Only Mackenzie spoke Spanish, and he found her quickly. He let her know that he was the chief guy for
Customs, and he needed to know what was in these 4 crates and boxes (that carried all the dental equipment and
chair). We couldn’t really tell at that point if he wanted to be friendly or if he wanted to exert the power of his
uniform.
He asked for any official paperwork we had, and he was shown the official letter of invitation to the country that had
been provided by Missionary Ventures, and the copy of the letter sent to us by our missionary Susan Holowecky.
He studied these while Mackenzie told him what our mission was all about. He told us that his job was to inspect all
the medicines, to make sure that none of them were expired or illegal. We would have had to empty all the bags
and fish out all the medicines and supplies…. Ahhrrggg! Mackenzie kept talking to him.
Then, to our surprise he said that he trusted us and that he would let us pass through the Customs line without
inspecting ANYTHING! He led us and all our carts to a closed off area, opened the line up and pointed us
through. When another Customs agent stepped up and held up his hand out to stop us, our new Customs boss
friend called out to him and had him step aside. We glided through like a fast moving train, and we were out the
door in 30 seconds.
And there was Susan, waving across the room full of people to get our attention. We were here! The yellow shirts
saved us again….instead of an hour of frustration after our 14 hours of travel, we were here….now!
Within minutes, we were in 2 big vans and headed for the hotel. We sat and talked with Susan until 2:30 AM, and
then went to bed. With a 6:30 AM wake-up time, Susan offered 2 bits of advice:
“OK. Everybody sleep quick.”
And….
“Get up in time to take a warm shower; it’ll be the last one you’ll get for the next week.”
