We're On Our Way!

Wednesday we woke the kids around twelve-thirty AM, though neither Eric nor I had been able to sleep. It seemed like they just rolled out of bed ready and smiling! They started singing while waiting for us to leave and sang almost the entire drive to the airport! (Which I know our pastor thoroughly appreciated at 2 AM. ;)

Their excitement continued through checking our bags and TSA. We had just enough time on our first layover to get Chick-fil-A hash browns and chicken biscuits for breakfast. Then we quickly boarded our flight. We were on our way to Africa!

The Lord allowed us to get seats all in the same row on that long flight. I was seated with Mercy and Abigail; Eric had the middle row seats with Daniel and Anna; and Lydia and Sammy were seated in the next set of three seats across the aisle. A black man was seated with them at the window. Sammy almost immediately started talking to him excitedly. Eric and I glanced at each other and smiled - this guy didn’t know what he was getting for the next 13 hours!

The first 8-9 hours were pretty uneventful. Between trying to dose off, the kids played some games and watched some movies. At some point during that time, Sammy asked Eric for a tract. When we glanced over a little while later, Sammy had both his Bible and tract open and was witnessing to the man! He witnessed to him for 30 minutes to an hour.

Around 2-3 hours into our flight, they turned off the cabin lights. We were going to try to sleep. It had already been a long day. Just as I was about to shut my eyes the man behind me plopped his feet between Abigail’s and my headrests. I kept trying to get up the nerve to ask him to “kindly” remove his feet from MY space…but I am extremely shy.

So, I just let it fester inside. Eventually I asked Eric if he would trade seats. When he asked why I would want to do that, I could barely hold back my irritation and replied, “Because the guy behind me is rude and ignorant and I can’t take it any longer!” He could probably tell I was about to lose my mind, so quickly gathered his things and we switched places. The guy didn’t bother him.

Around 10 hours into our 13 hour flight, Abigail started getting sick. Just as we got her settled and cleaned up, she got sick again - this time everywhere and a little on the couple in front of us. She continued to get sick for the rest of our flight and immediately after we unboarded the plane. There were no lines heading through TSA for connecting flights in Ethiopia, just a large mass of rude, pushing people. I was afraid they’d trample the little two so I tried to keep them between all of us and the suitcases. Abigail continued to get sick multiple times as we pressed forward. Our layover was only two hours, down to one by the time we pushed our way our way through to the TSA roped lines! What a relief to have the lines marked off so the kids were protected! An Australian nurse in line somewhere behind us noticed how sick Abigail was and yelled out to Eric. When she found out about what was going on she gave us some anti nauseous medicine. The lady behind us was so impatient she didn’t even want to wait for the nurse to hand it us. She tried pushing past us.

As the line continued to move forward I gave Abigail the medicine. The simple kindness almost had me in tears! I tried to look back for her, but she was no where to be seen. She was sent from the Lord, I’m sure because of your prayers!

We finally made it to the check point. It was a mad rush of throwing things in the bins. When they went through they pulled Daniel’s carryon aside and asked if it was toys. They started searching through it, then asked if there were any weapons inside. The kids said, “He has a toy gun.” They informed Daniel that it wasn’t allowed and they would have to confiscate it. He respectfully replied okay, but his lip quivered and he got teary eyed. He had really wanted a nice, metal cowboy cap gun for about a year. One of our churches gave it to him as a gift. My heart just broke for him! They had all given up so much willingly and joyfully! All I could do was hug him and say I was sorry. All the kids felt like crying for him. The lady came back over with a young man. She said he would walk us to our plane, put it in one of our carry-ons, and check it at the gate for us. I think we all felt like cheering! Praise the Lord! Such a little things, but again sometimes we see God most as He cares for even our little things!

We had to hurry as our plane was already boarding. We walked fast through the airport, down an escalator and up another- it all made Abigail very sick again. We rested for just a minute while Eric bought water. I was afraid she was getting dehydrated. She got sick again after they checked us at the gate. She and I were huddled in the corner of the ramp when the stewardess approached us. She kindly told us to take our time and rest there for a minute. Again, this tenderness I know was another answer to your prayers! So there on the floor we cuddled for a few minutes before boarding. She got sick again two times by takeoff and once more at landing, but the Lord allowed her (and almost everyone else) to sleep the entire 3 1/2 hour flight. The airport in Malawi is a little airport. We deboarded, walked down the steps, then across the lot to the Covid health check station, then back again to the main building. While waiting to get our visa, Mercy and Abigail plopped on the floor and rested their heads on the carryons. Soon we had almost everyone trying to help us get through customs as quickly as possible! God is good!

While working through papers, the kids saw a man grabbing our suitcases and setting them on carts and directing 4-5 men to as well. The kids thought he was taking our luggage! But it was Pastor Nelson! By the time we had finished, they had gathered all of our luggage!

They quickly ran it through to scan it, threw it back on the carts, and we were done! We couldn’t believe how quickly the Lord allowed us to get through customs! We are so thankful that He directed Nelson to come prepare the way for us and talk with people.

Abigail got sick a few more times, but the Lord had prepared the perfect, unusually cool weather with a breeze which made her feel better. She sat next to a window and soon was feeling and acting like her normal self. I wanted to weep from exhaustion, relief, and most of all - God’s goodness to us!

We relaxed and tried to take in the beautiful flowers, the busy streets, the mountains (which Nelson informed us were just small hills) while enjoying the breeze coming from the window.

Soon exhaustion took over and each of us took turns dropping off to sleep.

Driving through, we were just as much a sight for them as everything was to us - a van filled with white people! Everyone stared, some waved and shouted.

After 4 hours, we pulled up to the mission. Outside was a small group of people waiting to greet us, waving and cheering as we pulled up.

Christy, Nelson’s wife, was waiting and had prepared chicken and potato wedges for supper.

The kids immediately began playing with their new friends. The ladies started grabbing the luggage as Shadrach pushed it to the edge of the truck bed.

Even though I was completely exhausted and in pain, I didn’t want to be lazy, so up I marched to the truck. At first he directed me to take the smaller bags, but soon there were only the 50lb bags left. I grabbed one and stumbled up to the porch. I almost made it to the door when Shadrach’s wife, Phil, took it from me. After that, I just met them at the door and rolled the bags inside.

I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with these Malawi ladies! Hopefully my stubbornness doesn’t let me try too hard!