The Joys of International Travel

Everyone loves missionary stories, right!

Before our trip even began, we were already biting our nails. As we reported in our last two newsletters, the Nigerian government has changed the process for visa applications, and confusing doesn’t even begin to describe the new process. Jennifer and I had to resubmit ours a second time for processing, but we finally received them at 12:30 on Saturday afternoon before our departure on Monday. Mark, on the other hand, is on his third submission and still waiting for his to be approved.

On our way to the Orlando airport on Monday afternoon, Delta called to tell us that our flight to JFK had been delayed ½ hour (sound familiar, all you David Smoot Facebook friends?). That’s the only similarity we share. Our flight really was delayed. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, even without any flight delay. The Skycap took our luggage to his counter and began to check us in. Now, enter the problem.  The details of the story are long and arduous, so I won’t bore you with them. Let’s just sum up by saying that Delta has implemented a new security procedure requiring a method of verification that I no longer had, so we had to begin our ticketing process all over again. Praise God, we were able to accomplish that, minus a few frayed nerves. 

We made that flight, no problem. Landed at JFK early, no problem. Followed all of the signs to our next Departure Gate (B24) as directed. All of the directions lead us to Gate A11. Problem. Gate B24 used to share space with Gate A11, but now it is closed, it no longer exists. “Go to Gate A19 and catch the shuttle to Terminal 4, where you will find Gate B24.” (Now, I got all that just by osmosis, didn’t you?) So, we were on our way right back to where we had just come from when over the loud speakers we heard, “Final boarding call for Amsterdam flight XYZ.” That was, of course, our flight. Fortunately, we tracked down one of the little tram drivers who gave us a lift to where we needed to be, which was way past where we had originally arrived. I think it was at least seven minutes driving time. We barely made the flight…no way we would have made it on foot. Thank you, tram driver! Whew. Ok. Time to relax, sort of. The overnight flight into Amsterdam was uneventful.

After we settled into our room in Amsterdam, we hopped on the computer to check email, etc. That’s when we learned about David’s ordeal (I shared his “Travel Fun” post on my Facebook wall for your reading pleasure if you haven’t already seen it). So, we would be going into Nigeria by ourselves after all. At this moment, I thought this must be just what Joshua was thinking when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him. “Who are you? Are you for us, or are you against us?” By now, it’s obvious that this trip is going to prove to be some more kind of trip, because the enemy is pulling out every trick in the book to try and thwart it.

So, here it is Thursday. We left the US on Monday, and we still have not reached our final destination. But, we are safe in Abuja, waiting for David and Larry to arrive this evening. Then, tomorrow we will all travel by car to Jos. And we wonder why it seems to take so long to get here. Because, it just does.

And these, my friends, are the Joys of International Travel. Never a dull moment!

Thank you for remembering to keep us in your prayers.

Because there are over 4.4 billion people who still need Jesus, I remain, 

Yours in missions,

Mary Ann Cassidy