Planes, canoes and automobiles...

Last night I had the opportunity to be a guest speaker at a local churches VBS.  It has been several years since I have been involved in a VBS and I was very excited to be a small part of this one. The weekly theme is "Africa", so I was invited to briefly share of what life is like in Africa before these precious smiling faces boarded their"airplane" and headed for points unknown! As I was sharing, I realized again how difficult it is to travel within the country of Congo. After spending roughly 16 hrs on two airplanes, you arrive at a small airport that is crowded and stifling hot. Waiting in long lines through immigration while hearing a language you cannot understand and all the time hoping a praying all your luggage made the journey and that your ride is here to pick you up! After a nights rest, you head to the border crossing where a dug out canoe will ferry you across the river to a small outpost where once again you will have to go through immigration while waiting in the hot sun. Of course, since you look very different from the rest of the people milling about, you are virtually on display. You smile and wave at people and try not to look too nervous as the soldier with an automatic weapon walks by. The next part of the journey is a dusty 10-11 hr truck ride down country. It is not actually very far - about 150 miles, but the condition of the roads makes it impossible to travel more than 25 mph. The dirt roads are filled with potholes and in some places huge crevices oh and did I mention the bridges that are really just two planks across the road? And keep in mind you are sharing the roads with pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, animals and other vehicles. In many ways though, this is my favorite part of the journey, because you get to experience the countryside, the jungles, the people and the beautiful foliage along the way. However, by the time we reach our destination, I am more than ready to leave that Land Cruiser behind!
So why I am going on and on about all this? Two reasons: one - to help you realize how easy it is to travel here in the USA and two- so you will pray for us as our team travels on our journey.

As I looked out into those little smiling faces last night, I also wondered how many of these children would give their lives to serving our great God. How many would actually get to to travel to Africa or another hurting country to share the love of Christ and make lifelong friendships. I don't know the answer to those questions, but God does and if I had anything to do with influencing those young minds last night, it was all because of Him!