First Leg of the trip

Zion Transport

So the family finally got packed up into a 53' trailer provided by Zion Transport that we used the first 12-15' with the remaining things we own that would now be headed to Florida to eventually make it in to the Dominican Republic. The truck pulled out and we were to be leaving with our overnight bags and remaining school supplies that would be on one of the flights as well. Our last day in PA was the 31st of August. We will miss the friends we gained through Calvary Monument Bible Church while staying in one of the missionary residence's hosted by them. We will also miss the sound of horse shoes hitting the road pulling the Amish buggies up the hill by our house in Paradise, PA knowing all too well that the sounds will soon be replaced with barking dogs and the constant hum of the hundreds of 2 cycle motos gasping to make it up and down the mountain where we live in Barahona. 

Stalled along I-95

Leaving Paradise, PA

Visiting South Carolina

Normally when we leave DE to head to FL we stop in Wilmington, NC for an overnight or two with the Hodges, they have since moved back to Washington State and back to Delaware so we have planned to do one of those long drive through marathons where we exchange drivers and drive right through to Florida. However Christina Froman a teacher/friend who will be staying with us in Barahona has a relative who offered us a place to stay over in South Carolina. During our drive to South Carolina our car (2002 Chevy Suburban with 200,000 miles) would stall every 45 minutes or so and for no apparent reason. We were pulling a trailer and sometimes it would stall at the most inconvenient difficult places. Thank God for His protection we had no major incidents because of this stalling. When we went through Richmond VA there was an accident that had a chemical clean-up involved on 95 South. They closed the 95 southbound lane and the traffic was stopped for 3 hours. We detoured through the city of Richmond and with my excellent sense of direction and driving skills I was successful at getting us lost and further delayed by an additional hour. We did however finally make it to South Carolina where we were greeted with that famous Southern Hospitality and had a great time of fellowship with Wayne Spear and Anna Spear his daughter who sacrificed sleep and cooked a killer breakfast for all of us. We were truly blessed and reminded that even though we face temporary setbacks that as a good friend of mine always says "a setback is just a setup for a comeback-hotdog!!"

So as we left for Florida we were encouraged by how God had been so faithful in seeing us through the 5 months in the States, by providing affordable housing, work for Shawn while were back on furlough and brought our monthly prayer support and financial support up to the point of us being able to return. Praise God for He is truly worthy of our praise. 

Psalm 147:1-6 

" ¹ Praise the LORD!

         For it is good to sing praises to our God; 
         For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful. 
         
 ² The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
         He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
 ³ He heals the brokenhearted
         And binds up their wounds.
 ⁴ He counts the number of the stars;
         He calls them all by name.
 ⁵ Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
         His understanding is infinite.
 ⁶ The LORD lifts up the humble;
         He casts the wicked down to the ground."

Amen. 

This blogging thing....

Hello my dear friends! Just a quick note to say HELLO & HOLA. The Rineholts have made it safely back into the Dominican Republic, Thanks and praise be to God! Of course not without many adventures along the way. This first post in will be very short as I get things together that have happened over the Past Five Months and more recently the past 3-1/2 weeks that we have been here. In the meantime you can read some of the happenings at our friend Christina's blog :
http://reachoutandteach.blogspot.com/

Christina has joined in and has already been such a blessings to our family and the work God has for us here.

Much LOVE!!

The Rineholts