Mission Anywhere: True Unknown

(Continued from “An Airport Named INSANITY!!!!”)

The scene outside the airport was surreal. A fractured street run parallel to the fenced-in sidewalk and was packed with pedestrians, loud vehicles, and a few farm animals. People rushed the fence and began yelling at us in Creole. The porters behind us pushed while porters in front hurried us along. The humid air bound diesel exhaust to dust and stuck like paste inside my nostrils. It was hot, but I was thankful for overcast skies and a steady breeze.

I had no idea what was going to happen at the end of the sidewalk. Were we going to get robbed? Mobbed? Kidnapped? Were they going to make us get in a seedy van and take us away? Would they steal our luggage? Our fate was truly unknown. I was in charge and didn’t know what to do. My heart pounded, adrenaline flowed, and mind race. The only option was to pray:

“Lord, I don’t know what to do here. I don’t know where this will end. Please keep us safe and please help me to know what to do.”

My first though was to stay behind the fence as long as possible.

I said to the kids, “Walk slow.”

My brain processed information as fast as I could download it. “I have seven kids and they are OK. I don’t know where anyone else is. I don’t know what our host looks like, but he is an American named Jim and is wearing a blue shirt and red hat. We are surrounded by five porters that are annoyed by us walking slow. Mountains. Huh. There are some pretty cool mountains here!”

The walkway ended at a parking lot. By parking lot I mean a mess of cars, everyone honking and wanting to drive in his own direction. There were people everywhere, I didn’t see our host, and had no idea who was friendly and who wasn’t. The porters brought us over to a covered area and held out their hands. It quickly dawned on me, “These guys weren’t going to hurt us. They just want money.”

I knew they weren’t leaving until they got paid. If they didn’t leave, they would continue fending off the other people coming at us for money. The tables had turned. “These guys work FOR me! I am the Boss Man,” as they called me. As long as I held the cash, I called the shots. I wanted to keep them around as long as possible, So I began stalling:

“This is a beautiful country! I didn’t expect it to be like this. The mountains and ocean are beautiful!”

“Thank you,” they said. “We love our country.”

This sweet talk bought me a little time; time enough for me to plan my next move. The lead porter finally said,

“OK, you pay us now.”

“First, let me use your phone,” I asked.

Ours didn’t work so I needed to use a locals. He handed it over and I called the place we were staying. Thank the Lord an American, named Aaron answered!

“DUDE!!!!,” I said. What is going on? Where in the world is our guy?”

“They are either there or will be soon,” he said.

I felt a lot better after that conversation and agreed to pay the men. They wanted $40 but I negotiated down to $20. They took it and went on their way.

The kids stick close to me, as we were on our own once again. People continued to approach us, but by now I was much more forceful in my rejections. I was becoming stronger, more confident. Every minute I learned as much as I could have in a semester of college. God answered my prayer. We were going to make it.

Time passed and another guy came up to us. He asked who we were looking for. I told him “Jim” and he said he knew him. “Yeah right,” I though, and blew him off. Five minutes later he returned...with Jim! I couldn’t believe it. He made good on his word. Maybe these people weren’t savage kidnappers after all. Maybe they were just people trying to earn a living any way they could. Maybe they were God’s people. Maybe they were my people.

The guy who helped us was Wilbur. I made quick friends with him and he helped us the rest of our time at the airport. His tip was the best $4 I ever spent! We waited with Jim until the rest of our group made it out to us.

I landed at PAP International one person, and walked away another. God used this trial to teach me that I can handle stress, and that people aren’t as evil as I though they were. He also taught me that He will be there for me, no matter what. I was exhausted but amped, thankful to have passed the test. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.