Sitting in my airplane seat, I can't help but chuckle. It has been a day of incongruities. The biggest incongruity, of course, is the fact that I'm on my way to Africa. I remember lying in bed in college, and praying. "Oh God, I'll do anything...just don't send me to Africa." And now, I'm on my way. The fear of years gone by has been replaced by excitement and anticipation. I'll be joining a team from Global Mission Awareness, led by Leif Hetland, and I'm eager to see the Kingdom of God at work.
The second incongruity is that my trip has just started, and I'm already sweaty and dirty. In an unfortunate coincidence, the water system in my coop was turned off today, so I couldn't take a shower before I left.
The third incongruity is more fun, and reminds me that I have a whole team of people praying for my trip [thank you! You know who you are]. Traveling to Africa is physically difficult. The sheer length of the trip, compounded by the jetlag, is strenuous. I'll be flying overnight from JFK to Amsterdam, then have about a 3 hour layover, and then another flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro. If you add the trips to and from the airport, it ends up being over 24 hours. A couple of days ago, I got a tantalizing email from the airline, promising that you could upgrade to business class for 1 frequent-flyer mile, by using the online check-in, or the airport kiosk. Needless to say I try both, and can't find any way of doing this free upgrade.
When I got to the gate, I suddenly had a 'feeling' that I should ask at the gate (even though the email had specified that the upgrade must be requested online). While the gentleman at the gate was perfectly courteous, he reasonably explained that no such promotion existed, because every customer would want it, and there are not enough business class seats on the plane. I pleasantly agreed, and walked away, but I suddenly sensed God telling me to not sit down, but rather to stand in sight of the desk. A few minutes later, the gate agent came over to where I was standing and asked my name and seat number, and a few minutes after that a woman came out and said "here is your boarding pass". Seat 1E. Busines class. There in JFK I literally praised God for the travel present he had just given me.
And I also thanked God for all the wonderful people who are praying for me. Your prayers are already working, and I'm not even there yet.
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