Our team began our adventure on Saturday night at Grace Bible College, getting together to pack and weigh our bags and take a shopping trip to Walmart for some last minute supplies. We immediately bonded while following Brent around going “Dad, Dad, Dad!” and watching Calvin pick up nearly everything he saw. For more team building we went to go see the movie Les Mes. We laughed and cried together through the movie and Courtney was blown away afterwards with a simple, yet powerful, “Wow.”
After a long night of fun and packing up, the team got ready for bed and prepared for a day of travel. The next morning we woke up, had breakfast and drove to the Detroit airport with Don TenHoeve.  Praise God for no delays or issues with any of our flights! We arrived safely and on time to Montevideo, Uruguay on Monday around 11:30am (8:30am EST) We greeted everyone in a whirlwind with cheek kisses. Ricki Anne, Shaggy, Gusti, Alex, and Alexis were a few among the many who are involved in the church who game to pick us up.
Thankfully we had a day of rest because we were exhausted from all the traveling.
Around 7pm we went over to Shaggy’s Sister’s house for a New Years Eve party. There were snacks and a lot of talking until 11pm when we had dinner. Uruguans don’t usually eat until late at night. Then right before midnight we all went up to the room and counted down. The second midnight hit fireworks went out all around us. The exploded in every direction in loud booms and blasts of light for at least 20 minutes straight. Everyone ran around kissing everyone’s cheek exclaiming “Feliz ano neuvo!!!” (Happy new year!)
It was an experience that none of us will ever forget.
After the fireworks, we had desert and played games. We didn’t leave until about 3am. Even the grandma and grandpa didn’t leave until 2am which is a cultural norm none of us were quite used to. Each of us learned a lot on just the first day.

More to come on our adventures in Montevideo, Uruguay
The work starts in the next few days! Adios!

April, Brent, Calvin, Courtney, Denise, Lisse, and Mike