Travel to Wahiawa

The team met at Mount Vernon First Church of the Nazarene (First Naz) at 4AM as thunderstorms rolled through. Pastor Trevor Lanz our First Naz Childrens's pastor met us there to send us off with prayer, before Ed Giffin and Jim Gastin drove us to the airport in Columbus.

Check in at American Airlines went very well. Connie and crew had the totes maxed out at just under 50 pounds each. We got through TSA with time to spare to get some breakfast before our flight to Dallas. Even though thunderstorms were still moving across the Columbus area, it only delayed our departure by about 15 minutes. Before boarding, this first plane of the day many of us were asked to check our carryon bags all the way to Honolulu due to the flights being full. It was nice not having to lug that extra bag around the rest of the day but it was a bit scary checking the very bags we carry precisely in case the check luggage doesn’t arrive at the same time and place we do.

Considering the weather on the ground in Columbus, the flight to Dallas was very calm. Once we climbed above the clouds we were in sunshine all the way to Texas. After a 3 hour flight we landed in sunny Dallas and made our way by carts and train to the next plane with plenty of time to spare.

The flight to Honolulu was about eight and a half hours. That’s a long time to be on a flight but all things considered, the flight was pretty calm and uneventful. By the time we landed in Hawaii, we had gained back 5 hours of daylight as we chased the sun to the west. We left Texas just a little after 11 AM and landed in Honolulu right at 4 PM (9 PM in Ohio).

Pastor John Miller and Paul from Wahiawa Community Church (WCC) met us at the airport and we loaded up all the bags in one vehicle and all the people into a rental van and made the short drive up to the center of Oahu to Wahiawa. We saw rainbows most of the way as the Sun and rain alternated all the way there. We unloaded and settled in at the church and parsonage then had a delicious dinner that was prepared for us by the people of WCC. We were grateful for a wonderful home cooked meal after a long day's journey. After meeting Marissa Greentree the Compassionate Ministry pastor, and getting an assessment of the work to be done from Pastor John everyone settled in for a long overdue night's sleep.