DAY THIRTEEN & FOURTEEN - Going Home

Monday we were all up early to finish packing and go to the airport for the flight home.  We had one final treat as Mrs. Latham had arranged for us to stop at a Brazilian cowboy store to be photographed in some of their clothes. 

We left the house at 9:00 in the morning for our 1:00 afternoon flight.  One blessing on the trip was being on the same flight with the Herberts to Sao Paulo and sharing a long layover together before our connecting flights home.  Once we checked in at the airport in in Porto Allegro, we ate lunch in the airport with the Lathams and Erick.  The last goodbye was the most difficult as when we had to say farewell to them both.

In the airport, it was an advantage to our group to have Morgan on crutches.  First, we were given better seats on the flights.  They moved us up to the front of the planes where it was less crowded and close to the restroom.  The blessing was that the unoccupied seats allowed us to move around and give Morgan an empty seat to prop her leg up on.

In the terminals, every time we went anywhere, an airline employee would push her in a wheelchair and we would follow.  The employee knew where to go and whenever we would go through security or customs, the entire group would go to the head of the line.  We were also the first to board and had our "escort" waiting for us when we got off.  When we arrived in San Francisco, the escort retrieved our bags and we were even able to bypass the final baggage inspection at U.S. customs entirely.

One of the most moving parts of the trip was flying in and out of Sao Paulo, Brazil.  Sao Paulo is the fifth most populated metropolitan area in the world with eight million people.  After spending two weeks in Southern Brazil, we learned how long the odds are for someone to ever hear the gospel in their lifetime.  Seeing how large Sao Paulo is and knowing how few missionaries are there, the need for more missionaries must be vast. Pray with me for more laborers to enter the harvest field for all of Brazil.

This trip home technically added a second country to our trip as we had to stop in Lima, Peru for a layover.  This layover was two hours long so we had time to hit the gift shop for Peruvian souvenir.  Another blessing for which we are most thankful is that once again there were empty seats in our area for us to spread out during the final, eight hour leg of our flight home.

Taking 14 people to the airport at once requires coordination.

Morgan received v.i.p. service on the way home.

The cast's final picture together.

 

I guess Erick was bored.

One last goodbye.

Look at the dessert!

Ready for liftoff! 

This is what Sao Paulo looks like outside both sides of the aircraft.

Home at last!

By the time we arrived home, 30 hours had lapsed since we had left the Latham's for the airport.  We are all home now safe and sound and looking forward to what the Lord has for us wherever we may be.