I’m here in Liberia!! Thanks to all who prayed for a safe trip. Things were very smooth. In fact as I reflect on the journey I am overwhelmed at how God often surprises us. He knows exactly what we need and what we can handle. As many of you know, I was a bit anxious about the travel and flights. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it all was. My flights were very smooth overall and the Lord blessed me with a sense of peace the whole time, a peace that passes my understanding. I had even miscalculated the number of hours from NYC to Brussels. It was a few less than I thought which made me very happy. I know some of you might also remember my desire to find travel companions. Well, no worries there…I met up with Mark and Peggy Shrime in New York and then once we got to Brussles our group continued to grow until there was about 25 Mercy Ships people ready to board the plane! Our flight to Brussels had a stop in Abijan, Ivory Coast. It was on the airline’s schedule the whole time, but somehow it didn’t get printed on my itinerary. So that was a bit of a surprise. We stopped there for about an hour and then had one more hour flight to Monrovia. On the descent into Monrovia we did have a few moments of ”moderate” turbulence causing most passengers to be visibly anxious. My heart was racing, but I was able to hug my pillow and pray. It was like God was using it to show me that He provides peace even when we don’t expect it. He is in control and nothing can take us from his hand. Coming into Monrovia at night was a little eery. You could see the lights of the airport, but otherwise darkness because much of the country still has no electricity. It was kind of like a visual metaphor of Christ’s light shining in the darkness. Going through customs and claiming luggage took a while, but it was smooth. We then piled into Mercy Ships Land Rovers and drove a little over an hour to the ship. We couldn’t see much of the city because there were few lights. Our drivers were able to point out several burned out buildings from the war and bullet holes in the light posts on a main bridge. I don’t remember much after arriving on the ship because I was so tired. We had a basic safety lesson, 7 alarms means ”get off the ship,” that’s about all I remember. Here’s a few pictures from the night we arrived at the ship.
Another note that falls under the category of gracious surprises. God has recently allowed me to renew an old friendship with Jon Tony. He was able to come see me at the NYC airport during my layover. We had about 3 hours to talk and pray about the journey ahead. I am thankful for the time we had.
Thanks again for all who prayed for a safe journey! More to come soon…
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