One of the hardest things about the kind of short-term missions that I do is that you are with people long enough for them to get into your heart, then you have to leave.
It’s been like that with Pastor Mac and his wife Rose, and their family. I have been with them for the past month, and Mac has gone with me everywhere that I have been ministering. When we have not been away in another area I have stayed in their home. So there was a certain sadness yesterday when it came time to say goodbye.
My flight was scheduled to leave at 6.30, and (remembering the debacle at Accra) I had said that I needed to be at the airport by 3. There was a bit of a mechanical problem with the car on the way, but nonetheless we arrived by 2 – only to be told that the flight was delayed and now would not be leaving until 11! Check-in would not be till 6. Unlike Australia, where you can wait within the terminal till check-in, in Africa they will not let you in until check-in opens. So Mac, Rose, and I went and sat at the little cafe that is next to the terminal building.
Four hours of doing nothing. My phone had very little charge, so I couldn’t even play games. After a couple of hours Mac went to check – check-in was not 6.30. Just before 6 he went to check again, and this time came back and said that we needed to go, as there was already a long queue. Finally it started moving. Wait. Shuffle forward. Wait. Shuffle some more.
Eventually I got through the door and went on to check-in, immigration, security and finally to the boarding gate for another 5 hours of waiting.
When boarding time came, the older people were given priority and a nice lady helped me to the bus and then with the actual boarding of the plane (up those steps!) and saw that I was settled in my seat and my luggage stowed before the other passengers began to board.
The flight itself was uneventful, and I did manage to catch a couple of hours sleep, but of course by the time we arrived in Nairobi it was well past the scheduled departure time for my connection to Kisumu. In Monrovia they had told me that Kenya Airways would provide an alternative, but when I checked that flight was not going till 5.30. I was exhausted and just couldn’t face another five hours waiting in the airport, so I messaged Adams to ask if someone could pick me up in Nairobi.
Fortunately his nephew manages a hotel complex which is part of a ministry organization here, and he picked me up and brought me to the hotel, where I have a nice cool room for the night. Adams will come through in the morning.