Early this morning, after months of preparation, seven members of the STSX3 Group began our journey to the 2015 ELCA Youth Gathering, being held this year in Detroit, Michigan.

The fun began at 2:00 am when we gathered at St. Paul’s to load up our vehicle (graciously lent to us by Jan and Terry Lotter).

After a word of prayer and our last goodbyes, we hit the road for Kansas City, where we would board our first flight bound for Atlanta, Georgia.

Once we made it to the ATL, things got interesting. Two delays pushed our depature back from 9:50 to 12:50.

Then, after boarding the plane and heading for the runway, another mechanical failure forced us to turn around and return to the gate, where we sat for over an hour. Finally, around 2:30, we took off for Detroit, arriving around 4:15 – after we were just minutes from being diverted to Milwaukee.

When we got into Detroit, we definitely felt the love!

The city is ready to welcome us and to work with us this week. The people we’ve met so far couldn’t be nicer or more open about the city they love, and it has been a real gift to hear their stories.

We finally got to our hotel about 5 1/2 hours after we were scheduled to arrive. We checked into our rooms and the Gathering (thanks to volunteers Tom and Donica from Northeast Kansas!), then grabbed dinner at a restaurant across the street from the hotel, before settling in for a relaxing evening.

It has been a very trying day, but the group handled it with remarkable patience and grace, and we are looking forward to meeting more of our brothers and sisters from across the ELCA tomorrow as the Gathering officially starts.

For more info on our trip, stay tuned to our Facebook page (www.fb.com/fcstpauls) or follow Pr. Andrew (@achavy007) or St. Paul’s (@FCSaintPauls) on Twitter. You can also watch either FB or Twitter using #RiseUpELCA.

Good night, Falls City! STSX3 signing off from the Motor City.