It's Sunday morning and a new day dawns to the sounds of surf crashing on the island and a view of the ocean stretching to the horizon. It seems almost wrong for a mission trip to be set in such a beautiful place. However, based on the warfare the team experienced over the 26 hours it took to get here, we are where our Lord wants us.
In just a few words, the trip can be expressed as one of delay and loss. Fortunately, the loss was one of inconvenience. We started by loosing one of our travelers to a paperwork issue. In these post COVID days, not everything runs as smooth as it should, and we went from five to four.
The four of us, Theresa, Becky, Claire, and Don, arrived at the airport in Sacramento at 8:00 PM Friday only to be met with a flight delay. Eight hours later, at 4:00 AM, we were "wheels up" on the way to New York with no idea if we would be able to meet a connecting flight scheduled to leave two hours before our new arrival time. But, it is fun to sit back and watch the Lord work his miracles. He had another flight delay planned which would see us with more than enough time to make the connection. Due to a combination of weather and mechanical issues which required a new aircraft, our second delay lasted about eight hours.
You would think eight hours would be enough time for our luggage to "catch up" with us, but no, the enemy had one more little piece of warfare to throw our way. Eight bags of luggage containing clothing and training materials never left New York. Some day, I hope to be able to share with you the visual of Becky entertaining the lost luggage team in Jamaica with a large hand puppet. Even the last remaining customs agent in the airport enjoyed the performance, leading to what I think is the easiest customs clearance I personally have ever experienced. God is good!
Finally, at midnight, 26 hours after we started, we arrived at our base for the week. Seven hours of sleep later finds me sitting on the balcony listening to the sound of surf and looking out at some local fishermen casting nets into the teal waters of the Caribbean. I can only be reminded of a couple of times the disciples had fished all night without success. Jesus encouraged them to try one more time, and the catch was so heavy it threatened to capsize the boat.
Matthew 4:19 ... And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Yes, our luggage has already been found and should be delivered to us in time to begin training tomorrow morning. Now all we have to do is sit back and watch him work.
Comments