On Tuesday, November 7, the American Airlines flight that so many of us have longed for finally arrived. This was no ordinary 8:12 PM arrival for this flight carried two of the dearest people we know – Karen and Luc Huxter.

Initially, Karen thought the only people at the airport to greet them was her Haitian security guard, Milford and his son Samuel. Brooks thought even if we all stood at the end of the security corridor Karen would only see Milford anyway so we gave him the opportunity to greet Karen and Luc.

But off to the side was a whole host of greeters waiting to shower them with hugs, Amarillo bandanas, Texas flags and a cowboy hat for Luc.

Finally, Karen and Luc had made it to Texas and our hearts were full of joy!!

Here are the highlights of the week:

Wednesday

Karen and Luc met with a local ministry, CareNet, and they encouraged each other for the ministry the Lord has set before them. They had lunch with:

• Bradley and Emily Maybin – Bradley is the youth minister at First Baptist Church and Emily is the CPA for the US based 501C3 HATS organization.
• Anna Goetz, who is the associate youth minister at First Baptist Church.
• Brad Holmes, who is the Young Adult Minister at First Baptist Church.

Karen spoke at two services at FBC on Wednesday night – The Midway Service for young adults and the PrimeTime service for youth department.

Thursday

After a restful morning, the rest of the day was filled with excitement. They had lunch with Allison and Claire Nance and Jordan Easom with her new baby, Jed.

Next they headed downtown to the Amarillo City Hall for a special proclamation by our Mayor Ginger Nelson. Mayor Nelson proclaimed Luc to be a “honored dignitary and visitor” to the city of Amarillo. It was quite a moment as Luc was able to sit in the Mayor’s chair and conduct his own official business of smiling from ear to ear.

That afternoon Karen and Luc were “movie-stars” as they sat for filming of HATS videos that we will used for the website and other social media.

On Thursday night, Karen and Luc ate dinner at the Ratliff’s and then they were off to the fire station to see Jake Romero. As you can see, Luc would make a fine fireman.

Friday

On Friday, Karen was able to go to Starbucks with Julie. In fact, Karen was able to visit Starbucks multiple times during her stay in Texas. She would walk around the house in a robe and blanket and always claim she was cold and then she would say “A Starbucks Venti Chai Tea with 9 shots of Chai sure would make me warm”. Of course, Allison and Julie were always willing to take Karen to Starbucks so that she did not suffer from frostbite.

In the afternoon, a columnist from the Amarillo Globe News newspaper interviewed Karen for over an hour and we look forward to this article appearing in the Globe News in the very near future.

A quiet dinner at the Nance home closed out Friday night.

Saturday

We visited Best Buy where covers were secured for Luc’s IPads. It was here that Karen got into trouble that could have prevented her return trip to Texas. Oh yeah, we stopped by Starbucks again even though Karen was in trouble.

That afternoon, they visited Doxa, which is a dance ministry run by Brittanie Ritchie Wooten. Evidently, a soccer match broke out on the dance floor and Luc scored a goal.

No trip to Amarillo is ever complete without to trip to Sharky’s – Amarillo’s own build your own burrito joint.

Luc looks pretty happy about the experience. Evidently, this tied him over until Brooks took him to Braums for ice cream after church.

Between Sharky’s and Braum’s, Karen spoke at the Saturday evening service for Brook’s home church, Messiah’s House.

Sunday

Karen spoke at Milford’s home church, St. John Baptist Church, in their 8:00 and 11:00 AM services.

She also spoke to Nolan’s Young Adult Sunday School class at First Baptist Church and the 8th Grade Sunday School class where Luc won the iPad soccer duel.

The Ritchie’s graciously hosted us for lunch with a barbeque platter fit for any true Texan. Great food, fellowship and laughs were enjoyed by all. In the group picture below, every family represented has sent at least one family member to HATS. Considering our unofficial count, at least 26 people from Amarillo have visited and ministered at HATS.

As with anyone who spends just a few moments with Karen, it does not take long to realize the calling the Lord has placed on her life to minister His love to our friends in Haiti. One of the greatest privileges of our lives is that God grants us the opportunity to minister with her.

Our prayer is that through the multiple speaking engagements, videos produced and newspaper articles published that others will be called to encourage and support the ministry at HATS.

As Luc told Karen “not too long mommy before we visit Texas again”. Our hearts agree, not too long before we wish for you to be with us again.

There goes a good and faithful servant of the Lord Almighty and her wonderful and precious man of honor.

We love you both!!! See you soon!!!

~David