My flight into the country was about 40 minutes late, so I
was very excited to leave the baggage claim, finding David and Lisa standing
there. We settled into our hostel for
the weekend, a place run by missionaries for missionaries. It is such a nice place! (And I have bunk beds all to myself, though
it’s really not as fun as it sounds…)
Already yesterday, though, I was reminded of the Lord’s
blessings—and His power.
On my flight from Lexington to Atlanta, I had the scariest
60 seconds of my life. We hit some
unexpected turbulence, and slowly everyone started paying more attention. After what seemed like several minutes (but
in reality, a few seconds), I grabbed my drink and held it over the aisle. Then, we dropped.
Our plane fell so fast and yet
only for a second. It was, however, long
and hard enough for everything loose in the cabin to go flying. Drinks bounced off of the ceiling and soaked
everyone. (Add that to the list of why
water is always the best choice.)
But for a few moments, my
prevailing thought was, I haven’t even gotten
to Panamá yet! I felt that had something tragic happened, this
journey would have been pointless. My
plans involved making it here safely, serving for several weeks and then making
it home. But my plans are useless. I was reminded that a life lived by putting
God’s will first will not be in vain (check out yesterday’s devotional in
Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost for His
Highest for an ironic relation to the day’s events).
The moral of that story: every
time I try to take control, everything just gets messed up.
Today, however, was quite a
different day. We traveled by boat for two
hours up a drying, shallow river to visit the Emberá Purú village. We spent the day talking to the natives,
shopping through their “market” and playing with all the kids. I found some 6 to 11 year olds that are
beasts at soccer, but I’d like to say I held my own.
On our journey back, the native
guiding our boat gently slammed us into the shore, and insisted on being
baptized. I’ve never seen someone so
enthusiastic about being saved. His
urgency was invigorating, and it made me that much more excited that we all
have a new brother! Praise the Lord!
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