Up, Up, and Away

Our trip began by meeting at Grace Church and loading our things and the 12 of us into a van and an SUV. We then made the 9 hour drive to Ft. Pierce, FL where we would crash for the night and get up and head to MFI for our flight to Eleuthera the next morning.

Saturday morning we loaded the van and headed to the Hangar of MFI.

MFI, Missionary Flight International, serves many missions in the Caribbean giving them services in affordable flights for themselves and in attaining needed supplies.

With only 12 people on our flights, MFI was able to bring a load of personal items to the Dosters who we would be working with while there. They just moved there a few weeks before and were anxiously awaiting their belongings so they could begin to make themselves a home.

We flew over on a DC-3 that was built in 1942. MFI maintains and pretty much completely retro-fits and rebuilds each airplane.

the plane we returned on

It was the best flying experience I have ever had!

Since it was a private flight there were no lines or ridiculous security screenings.

We walked through the hangar and watched our plane pull out and then went to meet it on the tarmac and loaded from there.

the hangar

the team

Once on the plane we all settled in and the pilots gave us the run down for the flight. AND they told us we could check out things from the cockpit!

I waited a little while before going up, but once I did I was like a kid in a candy store. I don't even know why it was so thrilling to me to get to sit in the cockpit and wear the headphones and chit chat with the pilots, but it was. And I feel a little giddy just thinking and writing about it!

the cockpit

 

the island

After about an hour and a half, we safely landed on the small island of Eleuthera that hardly seems big enough to fit a runway. We got off the plane walked to the 'customs' line and waited a few minutes as the island folk seem to be in no sort of hurry. Once they arrived, we had our passports stamped and went to the other side of the gate and met the families we would be spending the week with.

Thus began our time on the beautiful island that I think may shape the years of life to come more than I am currently aware.

More to come in later posts!