Starting off with SNOW, definitely wasnt our plan but as we all know Gods plans dont necessarily complement ours. Since the beginning of our adventure out to La Boquillas, Panama we experienced a number of delays! First off, we left the parking lot of Kingsway College at around 7am, thinking that taking the 407 would be beneficial to our flight arrangements (departing for Newark at 11:30am). We finally arrived at Pearson International Airport at approximately 9:30. After arriving at our terminal & check in, we were told that Newark International Airport currently was not accepting flights. However, lets rewind to an incident that occurred which was clear evidence of God working in our favour. Approximately 15 minutes into our bus ride to Pearson, Jared Juodele realized that he had forgotten his wallet. Using the handy-dandy technology that we are blessed with, he was able to contact his aunt and mother who were able to get on the road, hoping to deliver this young man with his wallet. To make this situation a tad more problematic, his family was about 30 minutes behind our bus, plus the addition of snow and traffic. Evidently, the situation was not appearing to be in the favour of Jared. *FAST FORWARD*Checking into an airline is typically a speedy process, BUT NOT TODAY! Oh no, it took this Mission Trip team about 45 minutes to check in due to the apparent delay at our arriving airport. We were finally told that we were allowed to start to check in so we allowed Jared to be the last person to check in, hoping that his family would arrive in time to rescue him! Unfortunately, they did not arrive before Jared was forced to check in. As we are walking toward US Customs, we turn the corner to see Jareds aunt and mother ready to deliver his wallet. Look at God, He truly is an on time God! Shortly after getting to customs, we were informed that our plane was already boarding. Seeing as though we were on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE AIRPORT, we had to hustle and run to our gate, passing all the food on the way! We eventually got on our plane at around 11:15, thinking that our plane was going ready to leave. I am sure that some of us were well aware that the plane probably wouldnt leave on time simply because of the visible snow. However, we were not expecting a 3 hour delay of sitting in an airplane, on the runway! Our plane from Newark to Panama was to depart at 3:05, which was extremely inconvenient seeing as though our delayed plane landed in Newark at 3:05. Nonetheless, God was still in control because we were able to have the plane held until we arrived. As we get on the plane, thinking that we were late and the plane was going to depart on time we start to realize that this plane aint going anywhere either! We were in the plane, at the gate for at least an hour, and were told that we couldnt move because there were a few bags that TSA had problems with (which we later find out, may have been Rukias beautiful and vibrant bright pink, polka-dotted suitcase!) Ironically enough, I am also writing this article. It is I, Rukia Olivia Sawyers, alive & bagless telling todays adventure! Continuously, after about an hour and a couple minutes of waited at the gate, we were informed that TSA released the bags and they were on the plane ready to go (OR SO WE THOUGHT!). Take off was great, and due to the unforeseen and unexplainable circumstances the pilot granted us free inflight entertainment (TV shows, and movies). *SUPER FAST-FORWARD* We arrived in Panama City, Panama at 9:40 which was an hour later that we were initially supposed to land. But looking at our trials and tribulations so far, it was by Gods grace that we were only an hour late. We go through immigration smoothly and head to the conveyor belt to get our bags, where we waited for at least 45 minutes watching everyone elses bags go by except for ours. Most of us eventually got all our bags, with the exception of Rukia, Ashley & Mr. Bowes, Sharlene, Brandon, and Pastor Decena & Allen Jr. who all lost at least 1 piece of luggage! In total there were 4 bags and a guitar that were missions. After searching and searching for the missing bags, we ended up tracking them and finding out that they were all left in Newark, NJ & Rukias was stopped by TSA for some unknown reason! Long story short, we left the airport on an extravagantly decorated coach bus (Mr. P called it curtain-ated because there were curtains on all the windows) and arrived at our lodging location at around 1:30am Friday morning! God has definitely shown himself as the director and master guide of this trip, and I am absolutely positive that he will continue to display his power and love as we continue to minister to his people. Keep us in prayer! -with lots of love, Rukia
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 02:11:53 +0000
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