Praise the Lord! After a major detour to Chile, Carey Akin, Jon Ponders, and ten other MBUMC members are safely home from Quesimpuco, Bolivia. They said it was a truly amazing mission trip but the most physically exhausting thing they had ever done!
After landing in LaPaz at about 13,000 ft altitude and riding a bus for 12 hours, they had to pack down about 4,000 feet in altitude to the worksite and then pack back out again at the end. In between they moved 1500 lb. cables from one side of the river to the other. SIFAT will send future teams to finish the bridge.
SIFAT did a great job of getting them home when their flights were suddenly canceled and by the Grace of God, no problems but extreme fatigue! Their families are greatly relieved, since they were supposed to be back on Saturday!
Let me start off by saying the Thompson Fellowship Softball Tournament was a great success. Seeing people of all different ages playing together was a great reminder that we can all have a good time together in God’s glory. The morning started off early with people slowly rolling in, lacing up their cleats, and putting on their designated team color. Everyone started to warm up by stretching and throwing a few softballs with each other. We then all gathered to officially start off the day with the national anthem, sung by Shannon Herring and Cheryl Mosley, and a prayer by our own Jon Ponders.
The first round of games started early with feet getting wet from the dew covered fields. Not all games were back to back though, giving teams a chance to recover and rest up for the next game. Everybody got a chance to play at least three games. Teams closely followed the bracket mounted on the vending machines to see how they stood in race for the championship. The Recreation Department Team proudly went undefeated the entire tournament, with two games back to back to enter into the playoffs. We defeated the Belmont Bombers by a score of 4-1 in the final game to win it all.
The only downfall through the entire day was the heat, although it wasn’t too bad. There had been threats of tornado warnings rumored around, but the weather held and the tournament ended successfully and as scheduled. The tournament was an overall success with many sponsors supporting the Rec Department. As a combined effort, the tournament raised in upwards of $11,000 towards the maintaining and upgrading of the CAC and Fields of Dreams.
Jeff McKay
Praise the Lord! After a major detour to Chile, Carey Akin, Jon Ponders, and ten other MBUMC members are safely home from Quesimpuco, Bolivia. They said it was a truly amazing mission trip but the most physically exhausting thing they had ever done!
