In my first
post about our trip to South Carolina to visit our partner churches I mentioned that we had arrived in Mount Pleasant at our host home on Saturday evening the 16th of September. We were greeted with a warm welcome from the Mason family and the Bond family. That evening we enjoyed a hamburger cookout and then tried to get a good nights rest to be ready for the day ahead.
On Sunday morning we attended worship at First Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant. They have two services- a contemporary and a traditional. We were able to share in both services. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and to catch up again in person. They made us feel right at home.
FBC Mount Pleasant, SC
One of the first persons we saw after arriving was Liz. She is the missions director at FBC and the one who coordinates all of our mission teams. My boys just love her. Everyone does.
They were also eager to see Mrs. Laura. She is the children's director at FBC. She is a former missionary kid and just blessed us greatly when she came down to Guatemala earlier this year. While in Guatemala she had given Cruz and Ben new names that they still get tickled about. She calls them Benny Taco and Cruzy Woozy Pants. We enjoyed getting to meet the rest of her family. Her husband Matt is one of the pastors at FBC.
After church we got to spend the whole afternoon with Jennifer. She has been down to work with us in Guatemala several times. She was on the first team we worked from her church. We have loved her ever since. She became our official tour guide and took us all over the Mount Pleasant/ Charleston area showing us around. She knows so much about the history of the area and did a great job of giving us a grand tour. We began with lunch at Sullivan's on Sullivan Island. I enjoyed a wonderful shrimp and grits dish.
After a driving tour we parked and did a walking tour of downtown Charleston. It is so beautiful there. I could have spent hours walking up and down the streets looking at the gorgeous homes.
The boys exploring Battery Park
my little guys at the Battery in Charleston
our family in downtown Charleston
I was eager for the evening activity to arrive. We were having a reunion dinner for all of our former team members from both FBC and LifePark. I just could not wait to see everyone again!
arriving at FBC for the Guatemala reunion dinner
This photo is one of my favorites from the whole trip. There is a lot of love in this group. Not only for Guatemala and it's people but also for our family. These people have become like extended family to us and we love each and every one of them. It was a great night of eating, sharing, fellowship, reminiscing, and laughs. It was one of the highlights of our trip.
On Monday we had lunch at Urban Cookhouse with the staff from FBC.
That afternoon we toured Patriots Point. It is a Naval and Maritime Museum and home of the USS Yorktown.
Our visit there began with a tour of the Vietnam Experience exhibit. It was my favorite of all.
We then toured the USS Yorktown, USS Laffey, and the Clamagore submarine. The boys had the best time exploring and looking around. It was a great outing and we all learned a lot. If you get a chance to go I highly recommend it.
That evening we were back at the Masons home. Another couple was also staying there for a few days so it made for an extra fun visit. Anne has been down more times than I can count to work with us in Guatemala. She is one of my biggest encouragers. We were thrilled to get to meet her husband while there and extra thrilled that they were with us in the same host home. They moved from the Charleston area but drove in to see us. We love her and now we can say we love Mr. Bill too.
Anne and the boys in the Masons backyard. They loved going out every morning and evening to check on the tide. It was one of their daily highlights.
Trina (our hostess), Anne, and me before going out to dinner on Monday night
On Monday night the Masons treated us to a delicious seafood meal at Seewee Restaurant in Awendaw.
We began Tuesday morning with a visit to see Mr. Charlie Price. He is one of our mission team troopers. We always enjoyed it when he came down. He is passionate about sharing Jesus and loves people so well. He is battling another round of cancer is not doing well. We were thankful for some time to visit with him and his wife while on the trip. Join us in lifting him up in prayer. He is an inspiration to all that know him.
Saying "see you later" to the Bonds on Tuesday before they drove back to North Carolina.
the boys with Bill and Anne
We enjoyed lunch with the staff at LifePark on Tuesday. In addition to eating we had a time of sharing and updating them on the work in Guatemala.
That afternoon we visited the South Carolina Aquarium. We had a busy week-long schedule of meals and meetings so we tried to squeeze in as much fun for the boys as we could in between. They had to sit still and be quiet a lot while we talked and shared that week so it gave them an incentive to behave.
There were several hands-on things for them to do there. They loved it.
They especially loved getting to pet a few sharks and stingrays.
Ben had no fear.
On Tuesday night we were back at LifePark for a meal and share time with the church's missions council. We enjoyed another opportunity to update them on the work and spend some time in prayer.
On Wednesday we had lunch at Sesame with Liz and Hillary. They are the missions directors at the two partner churches. Sesame is a wonderful burger restaurant. I ordered a mixture of sliders. I tried the Charleston and the Memphis. The Charleston burger has pimento and cheese on it (it was delicious!) and the Memphis burger has peanut butter and banana on it. It is not as bad as it sounds. Both were great and fun to try.
The Church at LifePark in Mount Pleasant, SC
We spent all of Wednesday afternoon at LifePark doing a recording session for some upcoming promotional videos they plan to do.
They also recorded the boys answering some questions and telling a few jokes. They were naturals.
We had a little time to kill between the recordings and Wednesday night service so we made a stop by Ye Ole Fashioned Ice Cream & Sandwich Cafe. We tried a few of their fun flavors of ice cream. My favorite was the sea salt caramel.
ice cream with my boys
We were back at FBC for their Wednesday night service. We enjoyed supper and then getting to share in one of their adult classes.
We still had several more days to go on this amazing trip. I will stop here and pick back up in my next post.
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