Back to the beginning

Our hearts are filled with overwhelming joy as we wrap up our second day of VBS. The Lord continues to bring the children, plenty of church help, and energy for us to worship and play. Today we had 271 children – up from just over 200 yesterday! We prayed that the children would come and they have come in abundance! We are excited – and a little nervous – about how many will be waiting for us in the morning for Day 3!

But, before going into another day, we feel like we need to go back and share with you all about our journey to Bamenda. As we arrived at the airport in Charlotte on Friday, the six of us thought that our “stretching and growing” would come as we embarked on the actual VBS, but He began that process before we even hit the continent of Africa!

As Philip blogged earlier, a familiar term to missionaries in Africa is WAWA – West Africa Wins Again. Below is the score keeping for our “game” - Team Cameroon vs. West Africa.

Score 1 – Team Cameroon – all 16 pieces of our luggage got checked in Charlotte all the way to Bamenda without any big glitches. The ticketing agent did realize after sending Amy and Colin’s 5 containers of luggage out that they had only been checked to Casablanca. Another Delta agent (Angel 1) ran down to baggage and changed out the luggage tags.

Score 1 - WAWA - The ticketing agent could only give us a boarding pass for one person – Colin – for our second flight from New York to Casablanca. She assured us that this would not be a problem as they would be issued for the rest of us once we reached New York.
At this point, we had to pinch ourselves that the time for our trip had actually arrived! We were on such a high as we sat at Chili’s and waited for our flight to board. God had provided for our needs above and beyond for our trip, both financially and with supplies. What could possibly go wrong?!

Score 2 – Team Cameroon – Our flight arrived on the tarmac in NY 30 minutes early, which should give us plenty of time to change terminals and get our boarding passes.

Score 2 – WAWA – We sat on the plane for 45 minutes due to air traffic control problems. We literally ran to the Royal Air Morac ticketing counter, arriving there 45 minutes before our flight was scheduled to depart for Casablanca at 8:30. We were quickly told that we had missed the flight as it was their policy to not let people on after one hour before the flight’s scheduled departure, no exceptions, we would have to stay the night in NY, and fly out the following day at the same time. Air Morac closes at 8:00, so they packed up and left and the six of us wiped away some stray tears and sat down to figure out what to do next. Delta had said that this was not their responsibility as the flight had landed on time and Air Morac told us to come back the next day at 5:00 p.m. and they would get us our boarding passes. We called friends and family to begin the prayer chain as Philip called Orbitz, Tom called Air Morac, and Colin checked with a travel agent.

Score 3 – Team Cameroon – Despite our disappointment, confusion, and a 2-hour conversation with Orbitz, our spirits were great. We knew God was in control and He had a plan. We prayed for His wisdom and guidance as we continued to sit on the floor of the airport. This is when ticketing agent, Rosserio, Angel 2, came to tell us that he had worked it out for us to have 2 hotel rooms and $84 in food coupons. He had been a part of our plight from our arrival at the terminal, looking up flight information, giving us phone numbers, and trying to help us look into other options.
At that moment we realized that God had sent us a gentle reminder that He had not forsaken us and He had heard our prayers.

Score 4 – Team Cameroon - We headed to the Ramada around10:50, tired and hungry but feeling relaxed. This is when Angel 3, Barbara, a New Jersey girl, met us in the dining room and set us up with a buffet. We ate and chatted with her for the next hour and a half, enjoying her company and sharing life lessons and tidbits while we ate a great meal. We all had a great night sleep and looked forward to a day in NY.

Score 5 – Team Cameroon – Sue realized that she had left an important medication at home and our delay allowed us to be able to have it called into a local CVS to pick up before we flew out. As a team we continued to look for answers about the “why” of our delay, and we realized it might be as simple as God knowing Sue would need this medication while we were gone from the States.

Score 6+ - New York was so much fun! There is way too much to put in all the great times of the day. We accomplished seeing the Statue of Liberty from the Brooklyn Bridge, ate fabulous NY pizza, enjoyed a Starbucks coffee, rejoiced Amy had an umbrella in her carry-on so that the ladies could enjoy the street vendors, and truly just enjoyed each other’s company.
How steadfast is God’s grace. Despite a big disappointment, our team forged ahead with a great attitude and again looked forward to our trip onto Casablanca. We continued to pray that He would prepare our path to Cameroon, excited about the children awaiting our arrival.

Score 3 – WAWA – Despite being told many times in NY that we had confirmed seats on the 12:05 a.m. flight on Monday morning out of Casablanca, when we arrived at the Casablanca airport around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday and tried to confirm, there was only record of Philip. Again, Air Morac works limited hours, so we were told to come back to the airport by 8:00 p.m. and they again assured us that we were all first on the waiting list for our flight to Douala.
Without drawing too much attention to ourselves, we spent an hour in prayer and had coffee before heading out to do some sight-seeing in Casablanca. Once again, despite another setback, we continued to have good spirits. We believed we would make the midnight flight.

Score 7 – Team Cameroon – Again, there is really too much to write about our time in the city. We went to the market, had another good pizza, saw the ocean, and visited the famous new Mosque. Perhaps our greatest blessing, came through a conversation with Susanne and Philip’s father on the phone the night before when he mentioned what a gift to have the opportunity to do a prayer walk through heavily Islamic streets of Casablanca. Perhaps our mission was not only Bamenda, but to the people we encountered and prayed for in Morocco.
We were at such peace when we arrived at the airport. We were feeling confidant that we would make our flight and felt slightly rested after catnaps on train to Casablanca and back. Again, although not perhaps our original plan, our Sunday was spent in the presence of the Lord and we may not have been in church, but we worshiped and praised His continued care for us.

Score 4 – WAWA- This is when we really began to feel defeated by WAWA ( or the true enemy, Satan ). At 7:45 p.m. we went to the airport Air Morac ticketing agency. We were told our names were on the waiting list and we needed to just go to the front counter and register. There was no one that could help us for another hour, so we waited. When we finally got to a person, they told us that there was no record for us on the waiting list. We were registered for the July 5th flight. Although it seemed obvious to us since it was July 6th that the original flight would not work! They would not budge, because you can not be registered for 2 flights. Again, we went to the ticketing agency. The next 2 hours was a back and forth battle. The computer screens information did not match between the front counter and the agency (which were only about 20 steps apart). Philip was finally able to get a print out with our names on it from the agency which we took to the counter. Then, they were miraculously able to find us on their system. We were told at around 10:00 that we absolutely would not be on the flight. There were 40 people in front of us for only the 17 spaces available and the next time we could for sure get on a flight out of Casablanca was on Thursday July 9th (which ironically is tomorrow!). Did we misunderstand the call we had to go to Bamenda? Were we not the ones to answer the Jackson’s prayer for a VBS team to come? We called Chris to tell him we would not fly out that night and there was just a small chance that we might make standby on the following day. We called Darin to ask again to begin the prayer chains. Our hearts were broken. We spent and hour looking at our options – should just Philip who had a boarding pass go? Should we wait and get a hotel and try again each day until we made a flight? Could we just send the luggage? What if only a couple people made the flight – who should go, who should stay behind? There were many tears as we paced around crying out to God for wisdom.

Score 8 – Team Cameroon - During this time two Air Morac agents, Ali, Angel 3, and Wafia, Angel 4, worked with us to make sure that things were in order for us wait and see if there would be space. They encouraged us that there was still hope. And although the words came from them, we knew they were God’s messengers – there is always hope in Christ! We sat at a café 10 feet from the counter – where they told us to sit and they assured us they would come get us if our names were called – ate a blessing of 2 cheese sandwiches to share between us (staying away from the ham that had been sitting out for hours) and refocusing on what we needed to do – pray. Pray without ceasing. To ask God for what we wanted – each one of us said out loud – “ I want to get on this flight.” Philip shared a prayer that a friend had given him a month ago when he heard of the trip. We all wept as we were reminded that we are only tools for His purpose. Our adopted team verse, which we had clung to in New York, Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer” again resounded in our heart. Our minds continued to repeat a phrase from our adopted team song that randomly came on Amy’s Zune during our New York- Casablanca flight by Phil Keagy, “ When will I ever learn that God will provide all your needs for His mission.” We got out paper and made a list of ALL the blessing that God had provided on our journey. Our tears were now a result of the comfort of His arms in our hour of despair and no longer for fear or anger. We believed that we would make the flight. Time had gotten away from us when we realized it was midnight. The flight was to leave at 12:05.

Score 9 – Team Cameroon - Susanne went to the counter just to make sure that they had called everyone on the list that would make the flight. A man, that would be angel #5, overheard and said, “ We have been looking for Susanne for an hour.” Susanne yelled “That’s me!” as he handed over 3 boarding passes for the ladies. She thought it would not hurt to ask for 3 more, and a miracle happened, what we had prayed for, 3 more boarding passes for the men. We ran! We had only minutes till the plane would take off! Tom quickly called Chris and then Darin and said 3 simple words, “He is amazing!” They pushed us through security and onto the flight. Our prayers were answered in the most amazing way! Five hours later, we arrived in Doula to Chris’ smiling face, only to ironically find out our 16 pieces of luggage had made it on the originally scheduled flight and was sitting in the airport.

So, still wearing our clothes we had left Charlotte in and a little sleep deprived, we arrived in Bamenda and we have had 2 amazing days of VBS and are now ready to go to bed and begin again tomorrow! We know that you were with us during these long days and that your prayers were heard and answered. We hope that your faith is increased through our journey, just as ours has been!

FINAL SCORE - GOD IS THE VICTOR!