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One thing I didn’t mention
yesterday is that I had prayed to meet someone related to Liberia on
the trip out. It turns out that in
the airport I had a problem with my laptop charger needing to be in the
checked baggage and they made me go back to the ticket counter to put it
in. The bag was gone already and an
older white guy was in line and offered to put it into the luggage he was
about to check. It turns out he
attends Kirbywood Baptist Church in Memphis and
goes all over the world taking teams of pastor training folks to work with
pastors in out of the way areas. He
had been in Liberia
doing some pastor training work (along with several other African countries
the past few weeks. We traded
addresses and I look forward to that relationship.
The flight into Brussels was fine but
seemed long. When I sit in cramped
positions for long periods of time my back starts to hurt and I fidget a
lot. So I’m sure that the man next
to me (a French speaker) was tired of me prior to arrival in Belgium. One good thing that happened during dinner
though was that he spilled his water on me. So he seemed to feel in my debt for the
rest of the trip.
In Brussels we had to go through another
screening of our carry on bags. The
rules had changed again (in the U.S. they seem to vary by
airport so I don’t know why I think totally different countries should be any
different). Only laptop bags could
be taken through with your laptop and other stuff in it. If you had a purse or other type of bag it
had to be checked and anything you wanted (as long as it was not a liquid
or a gel) cold not go. The lady in
front of me had just adopted a baby from Liberia and was bringing him(her?) back. The
made her take everything out of the diaper bag and
put only the exact number of diapers need for the flight (how would you
know) along with making her taste the formula. She had some cough type medicine for the
baby’s runny nose and, since it was not prescription, she couldn’t take it
on. Everything had to go into a
clear plastic bag that they provided. What a mess for people traveling with
infants. The lady was very patient
however and eventually worked through it.
We didn’t have to do anything
due to having missed our earlier flight as they had arranged things for us
already. It was the smoothest thing
that I’ve ever been through with an airline. As bad as the deal was in Nashville,
it was just that good in Brussels.
Same airline in both cases so I
guess it was ther people involved or just
circumstances that made the difference.
The flight to Washington was long
but uneventful. The 7 hour layover
in Washington D.C. that I had fussed about earlier now
became my friend. It left just
enough time to clear customs into the U.S. and make my way to the
gate without being hurried. I
arrived into Nashville
ahead of schedule and Gayla and Elizabeth picked me up at the airport at
6:00pm. I really wasn’t very tired
at all (I think this is because we did not make the grueling trip out to
the Children’s Village) so we stopped on the way home to visit a friend,
Melba, who was in the hospital. I
found one of the STS board members, Chuck Clark, there as he had stopped by
to bring Melba his laptop so she could check email. Melba laughed and said that Chuck is in
charge of the “email ministry” within the church. So we are giving him the position of Minister
of Email from now on (it doesn’t pay much but does bring relief to those in
need of an email fix).
Finally we are home and it is
a wonderful feeling. Every aspect of
the trip was beyond my expectation (lack of faith on my part) and I am
amazed at what it really is like when you turn the outcome over to Christ
before you start and you have people across the country praying for God’s
favor on the results. Thank each of
you for being so faithful to pray.
Please don’t stop praying
now. The two committees (Pastors’
and Business/Governmental) are in charge and will need the continued prayer
coverage. I will post their names
and information within the next couple of days and encourage you to
continue praying daily for them.
More to come so look back in a
day or two.
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