Crosswinds, Luggage, and the Learning of Patience: Peru Day 1

If you are familiar with David Platt or The Church at Brook Hills, you probably know that there is a strong emphasis at the church regarding disciple-making around the globe. While we spend most of our lives here in Birmingham, we have been challenged to take the Gospel to places that are outside of our own context in order to reach the lost, help the poor, and equip the church. To this end, 14 members of the small group Laura and I attend were able to spend the last week serving alongside our brothers and sisters in Peru. I've had the privilege of going on an international mission before to serve in Maracaibo, Venezuela in the summer of 2007, but this was Laura's first time to go on a mission trip and our first time to go together as a married couple.

We left Birmingham on Saturday the 19th and were scheduled to land around 11:30 or so in Lima after a stop in Miami. That was the plan at least. We taxied out on the runway to take off for Miami and right before we got into position to take off, a crosswind kicked up that was too strong for the extremely tiny plane we were on. We sat until the wind died down, but by then there were storms in the area, so we sat on the runway for about an hour. No big deal at that point: we were all so thrilled to be going that nothing could get us down. We got to Miami safe and sound and waited to board the plane to Lima. First off, we ended up boarding about 30 minutes late because they had overbooked the flight and had to get some people to volunteer to go on a later flight. Once we were on the plane, we sat there for an hour before we ever moved. About thirty minutes after boarding, the captain comes over the loudspeaker and says, "Uh... the, uh... reason we are not taking off, uh... is because we are over our weight limit, uh... They are unloading some cargo, uh... so hopefully we should be able to leave soon. Thanks for flying American Airlines." We are all thinking that cargo means some extra Cokes or something. Then we look out the window and see them taking off pieces of our luggage! Laura and I watch as the bag containing my sleeping bag and Laura's sheets is taken off the plane, put on a cart with a lot of other luggage, and wheeled away into the sunset.

At this point, I was pretty frustrated. The plane was seemingly taking forever to get going, and I had no idea how Laura and I were going to survive without our sleeping stuff. On the plane ride to Lima, I really began to doubt, to think that somehow something had gone terribly wrong since we lost our luggage. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit began reminding me that he had all things under control, there was not one moment that was not going according to God's plan. I'm a very impatient person and I like to have things under control. It gives me a sense of comfort to know that I can change the circumstances or at least know what is coming next. I spent some good time in prayer on the flight to Lima, confessing that I really needed God to teach me patience, to break me of my desire of independence. I've been learning and trying to practice being conscience of my dependence upon God for every thing in my life. He gives life. He sustains life. He is the foundation for all things, yet sometimes I want to be my own foundation. I'm glad our luggage was lost. I'm glad that I got frustrated and convicted of my sin of impatience. I need those lessons and want to cherish those times. "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." (Hebrews 12:6)

We arrived in Lima around 12:30 or so. We had to file claims for the lost luggage, which was an interesting process in itself. I've never lost luggage on a flight before, so it was all new to me, especially so since we were in a different country. What made it even more interesting was that we had no idea where we were staying. We knew we were staying in Chosica, but had no idea the address or name of the place we were staying. I thought this was weird all along (back to my control issue), but we trusted Jim and Betty, our trip leaders, who had been there before and knew what they were doing. Jim had to talk to security so he could go out and meet the team that was picking us up so that he could find the address to hopefully get our luggage there. We got out of the airport around 2:00, or so I think. We were all so tired at this point that I don't really remember the time. We were greeted by the team who was there to pick us up, hoped on buses, and headed for the place we were staying in Chosica. It was an interesting first experience in Peru, but as I said, it really taught me some things about myself and illuminated an area in my life that I really need God's help in. Laura and I crawled in bed around 4:15 a.m., ready for a good night's sleep.