At this moment I am sitting in front of a computer at the airport hotel lounge. So many different things are running through my mind, as one of the team members, Josiah and I are still here in Chile, while the rest of the team just arrived in Detroit. To make a long story short, there was a mistake on two of our team members flight reservations – one of them just happened to be my son. After trying our best to get on the flight yesterday with the rest of the team, it was obvious that with 5 minutes left before closing the gate that there was nothing we could do. Therefore, I made the decision to stay behind.
It was humbling to see all the Chilean families, who came out to the airport to say bye to us, stick around through the whole 2 hour ordeal. As we came back out to the main area, they “welcomed” us back to Chile and saw it as a sign from God that it was destiny for us to live in Chile forever 🙂 In their love and care for us, they expressed how badly they felt; and they even offered to house us again.
Then I was reminded about how strongly I believe in the Sovereignty of God. Everything in life happens for a purpose and a reason. God never makes mistakes. Sometimes it is hard to say it or believe it, but after all these years of being a Christ-follower, I have come to the (hard) conclusion that God will always have His way and He does all things for His glory. We can either argue or accept God´s will. I realized that it is in these moments where our practical theology (applying what we really believe about God) comes into play. We can say that we trust in God´s Sovereignty and that He is in control of everything, but we will never really know until it is tested.
Today, after everything has settled down a bit, I am seeing things more clearly. I have been able to have a good talk with one of the members, while our experiences here are still fresh in our minds and hearts. This is something that probably would have been delayed due to our situations as soon as we arrive back in Ann Arbor. I have been able to walk through with Josiah in processing through some of his experiences as he has been journaling and reading the word. Also, in the next few hours, I will be able to spend some more time with the pastor of Pueblo de Dios and share our hearts together about the future of missions here in Chile. I will also spend some time with our translator who has a beautiful gift of music. We are dreaming together about even making an international CD with music from all over the world.
I am wondering if our “delay” back to the States is turning out to be something that God planned out perfectly for us. Even though I was looking forward to seeing Christina, Elliot and KiKi, the delay is building an even greater anticipation.
p.s. Christina just contacted me and mentioned that “yook gae jang” (my favorite Korean soup I like to have after my travels) will be waiting for me when I come back. Maybe all this waiting is really turning out to be worth it. I am truly thankful for everything.
This was JoJo’s and my host family who showed us Christ’s love to us
Pastor Sergio and his wife, who blessed us with their servants’ hearts
Here are some of the young people of Pueblo de Dios that we connected with
The Chilean flag was presented to the team – it was a great honor
A closing Chilean sunset over the Andes Mountains