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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Opportunity

Over the next few days Kyle and I will be processing a mission expo that we went to.  Part of the expectation of the expo was to have evangelism training.  Kyle and I finished ours a few days before we left.  I was amazed how my desire to see people come to Christ was renewed through the training.

We were supposed to arrive early this morning at 12:09am.  Instead our second flight sat on the runway for an hour which caused us to miss our connecting flight.  We joined a line that took me three hours to go through while Kyle napped.  He can relax and nap in an airport much easier than I can.  I'd been able to get some sleep while he talked about spiritual things with a lady for one of our two hours flights, so it made more sense to me to wait.  As I stood waiting, I tried to find reasons to be grateful while so many around me were complaining.  I was able to share some of them with a lady next to me who I think would have complained more had I not brought up some good things in the situation.  So here are a few things I found:

*Michele had let us know via Rachel that if our flights were delayed, then our final flight probably wouldn't go through since it is such a small airport.  This foreknowledge helped us to not panic when we got off our second flight and saw that our last flight had the word "CLOSED" next to it.
*Knowing that Rachel and Ruli were caring for Eliana helped me to not burst into tears when I could see the jet that was supposed to have us on it.
*There were 4-5 people helping the line rather than just one.
*Those who were helping us spoke English.
* Not everyone in line was able to get a hotel voucher due to conferences and early flights, but we were able to catch 3.5 hours of sleep at a nearby hotel.
*We were provided meal vouchers for breakfast.
*Although we dearly missed Eliana, we weren't having to try and soothe her after having had two flights and then waiting in line for three hours.  She was able to get rest as Rachel and Ruli continued to graciously and lovingly care for her.
*Kyle and I communicated well through the situation.

This morning while in the security line, Kyle and a man struck up conversation.  It was a good thing he had overall gotten more sleep than me.  I was fine staying up those extra hours, but my conversation abilities were minimal this morning.  As they chatted, the man shared that he had come to help his sister who had just lost her husband.  We got separated near the end of the security screening, but I spotted him as we cleared the area.  I asked Kyle if we could offer to pray for him.  You should have seen the man's face light up when we asked if we could pray for him.  He shared that he believed in Jesus as his Lord and Savior.  Before we prayed with him, he said that his fellow believers back home wouldn't be surprised at us coming up to him.  He believed that the Lord worked in these ways to encourage His followers.  He asked us to pray for his sister who knew about God, but admitted to not following Him.  Please pray for this family.  Pray also that Kyle and I will continue be bold.  Talking about God with others can be challenging, but He does calls all of his followeres to share the good news of His redemption with others.

Had we made our connecting flights, we would not have talked with this man or been able to pray for his sister.

Opportunities, they are often found in unexpected places.  Are you looking for them?

1 comment:

Renllua said...

Reading this in the afternoon is like having a second devotional "quiet time." Seeing God's grace at work - in you as you "choose your attitude" and in the prayer with the fellow Christ follower - makes me want to sing....as so I shall! :-)