Arrived!

The internet goes in and out so this is from the day I arrived. I'm trying to keep a daily journal to update you all, but sometimes i won't get online quick enough to post. Enjoy.

May 25, 2011

Weak Man

I left yesterday for Mozambique from DC at 2 in the afternoon. 3 and a half hours later I was on a plane to Johannesburg. 8 hours to Dakar, Senegal stop for an hour, 8 hours to Johannesburg. I don’t sleep on planes so it was a little rough. Luckily though, my mom had purchased the new book Heaven is For Real. I read through that on the first wave of plane rides.

I found myself stopping every couple of minutes and staring out the window. Sometimes I wish I was a kid again—something you never think you’ll say when you’re 10 years old. Having child-like faith is a great gift. The world has conditioned me to think that when you pray for something it’s conditional on what you’ve done for God lately, not that God will respond based on how much He loves us. Colton Burpo—a 4 year old who saw heaven for only 3 minutes—would pray to God and he would get his prayers answered. “I prayed for a rainbow yesterday. I’m glad it’s here today.” Sometimes I pray for things and they don’t get answered. Does that mean I don’t have a good dad? Of course not, he’s still a Dad. It’s like a kid in a grocery store wanting each candy bar they pass by. I’m sure Dad wants to spoil his kids rotten, but He knows what’s best, and 20 chocolate bars are not the best thing for a little kid. My problem is knowing which things are the candy bars and which things aren’t. But I guess I won’t know that. All in all though, the thing to remember is that God is good. All the time. All the time.

Each thing that we struggle through in life has a purpose. Each let down, each beautiful moment is a gift from God. A let down=a gift. We learn something through it; we become more mature Christians and able to endure further trials for the glory of the kingdom. Daniel wasn’t tossed into the lion’s den without a little persecution first. James says to rejoice in suffering. I don’t think it’s easy but I want to take that challenge.

Yesterday I arrived in Johannesburg at 10:30 AM our time. I went to the ticketing booth to pick-up my boarding pass for the final trek to Mozambique, an hour flight from Johannesburg. As I approached the ticket booth the officer behind the desk informed me that both of my bags were overweight and that I would need to pay the equivalent of 375 rand ($60) which is not what I was expecting at all! In fact, the one thing I’ve been most concerned about the past couple of days is my baggage. I’m carrying a lot of books for the kids at the orphanage among other things and books are not light. My mom and I measured the bags probably 20 times before I left making sure that each was under the limit so that I would avoid this problem. After no sleep, and what seemed like an unanswered prayer, I broke down at the ticket counter and just cried. I had no idea what to do. I have money, but to spend it on something like bags was not an ideal situation especially since both of my bags were under the weight limit in DC. God has a good sense of humor. A nice man behind me in line happened to be a professor at a school in Atlanta and heard the entire ordeal. I turned from the ticket counter with my boarding pass dreading having to meet the attendant at the gate to pay the 375 rand to get onto the plane with both of my checked bags, but the man stopped me. He informed me that he would speak to the attendant because that was not a rule, nor was it something that he’d ever seen before.

I arrived at the gate only to find another nice man who explained the same situation to me. Both guys found the ticketing officer and spoke to him very sternly about trying to trick me into paying money for bags that were supposed to arrive at my final destination—no questions asked. The poor officer came to me at the gate with the baggage tags and explained that he had fixed the weight on the bags so that they would arrive in Maputo with me. He wished me a good flight with a smile and went on his way. The two nice men made sure that I had all of my belongings and offered me everything you could imagine until I got to Mozambique. Praise the Lord!

Finally, after a delayed flight, I arrived at Mozambique’s airport only to have received one of my bags—and it was the one with just books in it. No clothes, no medication, and none of the gifts that I’d brought for the missionaries. Needless to say I was exhausted, cranky, and an emotionally stressed wreck. I got to the baggage office with tears streaming down my face. Trying to remember that one bag had arrived and at least I had that. I had been praying the whole flight for both bags to be there but something told me I wasn’t going to get both. Sure enough, that’s what happened. Poor Rika and a couple of others who had come to collect me at the airport had waited an hour and a half for me. I’m hoping that we can go back to the airport today and that my bag will be there.

Rejoice in suffering. Pray for rainbows and expect them to happen. Ticketing officials, nice men and lost baggage. Rejoice. God has a sense of humor and there’s something to be learned in this moment. Relying on God is a fun thing—you’ll always be cared for and always be surprised. Pray for me and for the Boersmas who are all ill this week. There’s so much to be done too. I love and miss you all already! J

Amy