Romania Team Update #2

Hey friends and family! 

Thank you everyone for praying for our trip to Romania! We have had quite the eventful and unexpected travel day. We arrived at the airport at 7:45am to gather as a team, and Jerayl Develvis prayed over us as we set off!

Our flight from Portland to Chicago was already a little delayed in the morning, making our tight connection in Chicago even tighter. This made the morning a little stressful. Because of a seat malfunction on the plane, we left PDX over an hour late. I am so thankful for inflight wifi, because we spent a decent amount of this flight trying to figure out how we were going to make the incredibly tight transfer. 

Our flight was coming in around the same time that our next flight was planning on departing, but next flight had a minor delay and we thought we might be able to make it. 15 people, 30 bags, and 1 dream, trying to run past 19 gates to make our connection to Germany. Unfortunately, we arrived about two minutes after they closed the spot. You can imagine our heartbreak! We now had an unexpected delay causing us to stay overnight in Chicago until we could catch the next flight. We were able to score some hotels and food vouchers, so we made the best of it. 

Despite the chaos, our team found moments to come together in prayer, and give thanks to the Lord. We know that this is all a part of His plan! Kimberly Whipps had put together a travel bingo sheet with fun challenges that encouraged us to share the gospel and have fun as a team. 

Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for our extended travel plans. Because of limited back up options for a group of 15, we will be on two separate flights. Nine team members will fly on the original path to Germany, and six team members will go through Switzerland. Both groups will arrive in Romania within a few hours. We are excited to get there! 

– Maddie Stumbo, for the team