Off to Guatemala we go! At least we THOUGHT that was the case when Elsa, my daughter Marisol, and I showed up at the airport early this morning, bags packed, boarding passes in hand, ready to take off for our long-planned mission trip with Outreach For World Hope that Elsa and I were to help lead. We had driven up to Hermosillo from our home in Alamos the night before, just to make absolutely sure we would encounter no problems AND be at the airport at least two and a half hours in advance. Everything was going great, and I could almost taste the peanuts that’d soon be served to me by a smiling flight attendant, until we heard the following words while checking our bags.
“We have seats for two of you.”
Come again? Am I crazy or was some otherwise friendly-looking AeroMexico employee having trouble counting to three? And how about these interesting little things called “boarding passes” we were all holding in our hands? Am I wrong, or does possession of one of those rectangular pieces of paper, issued by the airlines complete with confirmation code and assigned seat number, imply that one will be be permitted to board an aircraft?
“Two of us? Excuse me, what are you talking about? There are three of us. We reserved our flights two months ago, and checked in yesterday!”
“Sorry, the plane is full,” the ticket agent informed us. “You’ll notice only two of your boarding passes have assigned seat numbers. The other is listed as STB.”
STB? As in “stand-by”? Hmm, never noticed THAT when we checked in, 24 hours in advance!
Suddenly, what wasn’t even a concern five minutes before was now a MAJOR concern. We had to get to Guatemala City, ASAP. No other flights departing Hermosillo would arrive there in time to meet our group, then get us AND them on an early-morning bus tomorrow, bound for the remote villages where we were to work this week. It’s not like we could leave our 14-year-old daughter behind, 5 hours from home, all by herself and legally unable to board a bus, while we leave the country. As for Elsa and me, our JOB was to co-lead these volunteers, many of whom have no idea what to do or where to go once they arrive in Guatemala City later today. Sure, there was another leader on the trip, but he and his wife would be overwhelmed, which is why Outreach for World Hope need MULTIPLE leaders on a trip like this where there’s so much to be done.
Not to mention the suitcases jam-packed with donated goods, sent to us from folks in the U.S in support of our efforts, all destined for needs in Guatemala.
“Excuse me, but we HAVE to get on this plane to make our connecting flight to Guatemala! My wife and I are co-leaders of a mission trip we’re guiding there, and this is the only flight that gets us there in time to meet all the arriving volunteers we’re in charge of leading. Most of them don’t even speak English, and they’re going to need us. We HAVE to get on this plane!”
“We’ll try our best, but I can’t guarantee you anything”, she replied.
As the apparently helpless ticket agent instructed us to do, through security and on to our gate we went, beginning an annoyingly stressful waiting game. After several unsuccessful attempts at getting any useful information about our flight status from anybody resembling an AeroMexico employee, a little bell went off in my head as I remembered something.
Just before leaving home for the airport, I had pre-recorded a segment for an upcoming “Boats, Bars, Beaches and Jesus” radio show. On it, I talked about how from my experience, not only people in Guatemala, but people all over the Third World in desperate situations possess an incredible faith in God far more fervent than mine, or than most other people I know who live relatively comfortable lives.
On that recorded segment, I had noted how there are children in Africa who on a daily basis don’t just have to rely on God for water to drink, but also pray to Him that they won’t be attacked by a lion or killed in civil warfare while walking miles down a dirt road to get that water, bucket in hand. God is relied on for every situation and every aspect of life, including whether there will be food to eat, enough firewood to cook on or provide light, etc.
Meanwhile, in our comfortable First World lives, we DON’T feel like we have to rely on God for every detail. Why would we? We want light? We flick a switch. We want water? We turn a faucet. We want food? We open the fridge.
It’s not like we have to pray for light. It’s not like we feel a reliance on God for every single bit of food we can eat or water we can drink.
Maybe THAT’s why the faith of those who suffer is so often times more fervent than the faith of those who have life pretty darn good. Because, like they say, faith is much like a muscle in your body. Every time you rely purely on God and exercise that muscle, faith is strengthened. And when you DON’T exercise that muscle, it weakens, eventually falling into a state of atrophy.
Towards the end of my recorded segment, I had stated that I wanted faith for me ( in fact, for ALL of us) like those people in other parts of the world who face intense daily challenges possess. Which led me, crazy as it sounds, to actually pray (stupid me!) for a challenging situation to occur so that I’d be forced to rely on God, thus strengthening my faith!
Funny how quickly that prayer was answered. Here was one of those situations in life where I actually could be given a chance to strengthen my faith by trusting and relying on God. OK, admittedly, it’s not up there with risking getting attacked by a lion or wondering if I’ll go without food for several days, but hey, it’s still something!
With passengers already lined up and boarding, our situation still unresolved and the plane soon bound for take-off, Elsa and I held hands and prayed.
And here we are on a plane, headed for Guatemala City. All THREE of us. Thank you, God.
Off to Guatemala we go!