Ready for take-off…

0 days until departure…

I woke up this morning with an excitement brewing that the day is finally here. It was 2:30 in the morning and I have already had some time to bond with some of my team-mates. We took the 3am shuttle to the airport and were early enough to get checked in and ready to go. My only bump so far (beside the minor turbulence) was with my check-in not registering my second suitcase – lucky this was a minor bump that was resolved in a few minutes. I must say, the camaraderie in the team is growing! When the service person at the check-in was trying to resolve the issue, my team-mate Bill stepped up to make sure everything was OK. It is hard to be away from family, but I think that while we are gone, we will become our own family and grow in our own way and together. 

After a brief wait and a quick prayer we were soon boarding our first flight to Miami. It is funny because as we made our way to the run-way, I think we went in couple of circles or even a figure eight! The pilot took like 7 turns before we finally braced for lift off. I got to sit next to one of my room-mates on the way down. I hope I was able to help at least a little bit since she is terrified of flying. But God provided and we had a fairly smooth flight! Unfortunately, I was not able to sleep as much as I would have liked! 

Once we got to Miami, we found our new gate (my current location) and we had a chance to have a group meeting and go through our physical journals to keep while we are in Haiti. One thing that really caught my eye is that a Missionary is a person who leaves their family for a short time so that others may be with their family for an eternity. 

In one of my previous posts I talked about how Mitch Albom may be wrong about where to start when trying to save a life. I have had time to really reflect on this and get some opinions; I have come to realize that sometimes, before we can address people spiritually, we sometimes need to help to meet their basic needs of food, water, and medicine.  But while we are able to sometimes help provide here, I do not believe that ALL people have this ability – where they do in fact have the ability to pray. I still believe that prayer should come first.

 

Our next flight is only an hour away, we have had time to eat lunch, gather our thoughts, and even journal. I am still a bit nervous about my devotion that I have planned for tomorrow – I hope I do not talk for too long… 

Some scriptures for thought from our journals:

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. [Psalm 16:1]

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. [Joshua 1:7]

He will not let your foot slip; He who watches over you will not slumber. The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. [Psalm 121:3-4;8]

A big part of the journey still remains ahead. Once we get to Port-au-Prince, we need to get our entire luggage collection (2 bags each, plus duffels and backpacks!) to our bus. As much as we would love to let the Haitians help us do this, it is something that isn’t the best option for our team. So we need to keep intact as a group and keep safe. Lord, please keep us safe during this process of our trip and please help us with smooth air, an easy take off, and a gentle landing. 

As always, please keep my team, their families, and the whole nation of Haiti including the children I will be teaching and helping all in your prayers.

I love you - from Haiti

  - Jen