OK, we are on our way. When I say we, I mean me and Frank. I left Des Moines early this morning and ended up at gate M16 in Chicago O'hare airport. And my friend Frank was sitting there waiting for me. Frank flew in on the redeye from Oregon and beat me to the gate by a few hours. This was the first time I've seen Frank since 1994 or so, but he greeted me with a big hug. Any who know me understand that I am not a hugger...but I liked this one. Anytime God reunites you with someone that has been a friend for over 30 years, without speaking a word, well that is pretty special. I can't wait to catch up with my buddy. Life took us different directions for over 30 years then God reunited us for this 2-week work. If that was all that happened with this trip, I think it might be enough for me. However, God is just getting started.
For now, I am in seat 32C and Frank is sleeping in 26A. I know he is sleeping becuase I just walked past him on my first trip to the bathroom. I remember when I was flying all the time in my 20's, I made a commitment that I would never use an airplane bathroom. And even though I flew most every week for a couple of years, I kept that committment until Lisa and I took a 16 hour work flight to Sydney, Australia...but I digress. One small blessing for both Frank and I, this is not a full flight. Somehow we both ended up with our own 3 seat section, enough for Frank to comfortably sleep lying down. Any of you who have flown to Africa will know, that might be a bigger blessing than I am letting on.
Today we departed the North American continent over Newfoundland and we are currently 1/2 way to crossing over the Bay of Biscay with a quick trip over Europe. From there we will touch the northern tip of Tunisia and head south to our second destination of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We don't have a long layover in that country, so there was a little anxiety that we could miss that connecting flight. But we are told we are going to arrive about 30 minutes ahead of schedule...so we should depart for Lusaka, Zambia on time. And the best thing about that connection is that my good friend Matthew will be waiting for us when we arrive in Ethiopia. So the 3 of us should be greeted at the airport in Lusaka in about 16 hours.
I've been asked to preach at one of our partner churches in Lusaka Sunday morning. It will be a grand affair. We will also have our first pastors meeting as well, and our first feast. Jesus' teaching will really come alive at Trinity Baptist Church that day. I was asked to speak about the peace spoken of in John 14:27. I'm not exactly sure what I will say, but I'm pretty confident God will have me cross reference to Paul's admonition to the Church in Rome where he says, "So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another." I see Shoulder 2 Shoulder in that admonition. Frank and Matthew and I are here to promote peace among a segment of the church that struggles to find it, even though they have accepted God's invitation into His Kingdom on this earth. And that Kingdom is a place where Jesus says that the poor should expect a blessing. How are they being blessed, if they aren't finding that peace?
Well, I think that is where you come in. A few verses earlier (John 14:13-19 if you want to check it out) Paul famously says, "...for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." At our celebration on Sunday there will be lots of peace and joy. And it isn't because of food - Paul says that clearly - it is becuase of sharing - the sharing that I like to reference John the Baptist calling for very early on in this Kingdom feeding ministry. So if you have been involved in our S2S sharing minstry, then you are promoting peace. You are bringing joy. You are building up brothers and sisters in a beautiful accross-the-ocean sort of way. That Atlantic Ocean that I am about 1/2 way accross.
I need to find a way to get a few hours of sleep over my remaining 13 hours of flight time. Feel free to pray for that, if you feel led. Hopefully my next post will tell of a fun reunion on Saturday.
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