"How Do You Even Start To Plan a Trip Like That?"

I have to say that is the questions we are asked most is,  "How can you go away for a month" and "How do you even start to make plans".  The main answer is planning.  We have had a goal of serving in a foreign country since 1996, after the completion of the Rosenberg Texas Assembly Hall.  Although the situation was not right at the time, that did not mean that we had to give up our goal.  As time went on, and a couple of kids later, we really had the desire to serve.  We, as a family, put it to prayerful consideration, and started to get to work.  We were very specific with our prayers to Jehovah.  We took one small step at a time, awaiting his answer after each step.  It would not have been appropriate for us to move ahead, without his clear direction, if we were wanting him to bless this "adventure".  As we saw Jehovah's spirit moving us to continue planning, it was time for us to work in accord with our prayers. 

First, was to start trying to become debt-free.  This would enable us to make this trip, without having to have concerns of bills needed to be paid.  Are we there yet, no, but by the end of this year we should only have our trailer payment.  For those familiar with Dave Ramsey, we are "gazelle intense".

After the financial end was taken care of, the planning could begin.  We started out with 6 countries that would meet our needs.  Since my parents are joining us, and they are in the English, we had to consider countries that had needs that supported ASL/English.  Those countries were Guyana (Northern South America), Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Belize and Dominican Republic.  Guyana was a choice we couldn't go with, since Continental (nor its partners) fly into that country.  We had been saving flyer miles for some time, so that was a huge determining factor.   Next step was to contact the branches.  All but Dominican Republic are handled by the Mexico branch.  The Dominican Republic is handled by their own branch.  We talked at length with the need greater desks.  We then determined, with Jehovah's direction, that the Dominican Republic would best suit our concerns, money, safety, etc. 

Please know that the first two steps were not something that happens overnight.  It took several months of planning just to get to that point.  After we decided on a country, wrote our letter of intent to them, wanted for their reply as to the areas needing assistance, then our part of the planning could begin.  We then were able to make contact with some of the friends that live in the areas.  We really wanted our children to "taste the way the locals live", so we wanted to make sure that some of the trip was "living as a local".  With the Dominican Republic having over 650 need greaters, it was easy for us to find an apartment to rent, while they were gone on vacation.  To give you an idea of the cost of things in the DR, we are renting a sister's apartment, the agreement was a cover her monthly expenses.  The expenses for one month, for rent, electric bill, internet bill and phone bill came out to $215, which we will pay half, since my parents are sharing expenses with us.  So for $108 we could have an apartment for one month, although remember it is VERY small. 

We did opt to visit several areas while in the DR, so we had to plan for more than one accommodation.  We will be staying at an all-inclusive resort in the town of Puerto Plata.  This is a beach town, very well-known with the Americans.  The hotel runs specials regularly.  We took advantage of one of their specials, $15 per person per night.  So the entire family will be there for one week.  Not bad for $60 per day for food, lodging, activities and liquor.

We will also be able to visit a friend that used to work with us at the Rosenberg Assembly Hall, named Amber Amyat (some may know her as Amber Bono or Amber Ross).  We will stay 3 days with her and her husband in Luperon on the Northwest shore.  Another location we will visit will be Jarabacoa.  It is up in the mountains (so alittle cooler).  We will be there for 3 nights.

I will do my best to share experiences and pictures as the trip progresses.  Please feel free to leave comments or questions on the blog, if you like.  We look forward to sharing as much information with you as we can.  See you when we get back!!