We Made It!

At 5:35 p.m. today, the Grace Gang rolled into the parking lot of Ankeny Presbyterian Church. After two days on the road, we have arrived!

For the most part, the trip was uneventful -- hot, but uneventful. Thursday saw us stop off in Oklahoma City, where Westminster Pres allowed us to use their beautiful new, state of the art youth room for our lunch and devotional break. It was a wonderful place to get off the road and chillax for a bit.

Rolling into Wichita, one bank's temperature sign read 109 degrees! Talk about your warm welcomes! Covenat Pres in Wichita hosted us and we shared in our traditional first night "passing of the mantle". The recently graduated seniors who were Grace Mission Trip vets, passed the mantle (trip shirts) and commissioned the group with a charge to be "beacons of hope and encouragement".

Friday's travels took us north to Salina, Kansas where we found a highway rest area for morning devotions. After that we continued north to York, NE and then turned right! At lunch in Lincoln, Rick and Jim offered to introduce the group to a Nebraska tradition -- runzas -- but only Marianne, Wes, Tricia, and Ainsley met the challenge!

Upon arrival in Ankeny, we were greeted by our hosts Mary and Doug Kohlsdorf who showed up around. It turns out that Mary was one of Olivia's advisors at GA last year! Small world!! Dinner was another Nebraska tradition that has spread over to Iowa -- Valentino's Grand Italian Buffet. I think the group was well fed!

Saturday will be busy, so it is time to sign off. Hopefully some of the group members will join in the blogging as the week goes by! Peace to you all from Ankeny, Iowa.