There is an old joke about a man who walks up to the airline counter and says that he would like to book a flight for himself to California and for his luggage to go to Alaska. When the airline attendant says she can’t do that, he says, “why not?, you did it last time!”
Well, we are back and for about 15 of us, our luggage spent a little more time in Miami. It was quite a last day of travel. The night before we had a wonderful time at the hotel in San Pedro Sula sharing testimonies of what God did and how he impacted our lives. The teens who went with us were especially impacted by what they had seen. I know the moms I talked with were glad they had brought their kids with them on this trip. One person told me that next time she wants to bring her entire family with her. Mitch debriefed us all on what to expect as we went back to the states. Having seen so much poverty, it can be a tough transition. Also, we talked about how our missionary stories can be exciting and life changing for us, but for those who haven’t gone, it can be very difficult to get across what we have experienced.
Because our group was so large, we had to book two flights to get back home. The first group had to leave early to catch an early morning flight. They would have a long layover in Miami, so they took advantage of it and headed to nearby Miami beach for some relaxation while they waited for us to join them for the evening flight back to Houston. I was in the second group and we got to sleep in on Wednesday morning. Eugene was in our group and today was his birthday. We sang to him at breakfast. Then the adventure began. Apparently, God was wanting to teach several in our group patience because we faced a lot of delays. The bus driver was about an hour delayed picking us up at the hotel. Although we called him to see where he was, he was always “10 minutes away.” We got to the airport in good time and got checked in only to hear that our flight was delayed leaving Honduras due to weather. No worries because we had a three hour layover. That layover quickly vanished in Miami when we tried to reclaim our luggage at customs only to be delayed again due to a storm in Miami that prevented the people on the ramp from unloading our luggage. A very long line made passing through customs another test in patience. We then had to drop off our luggage again, clear security again and then race towards our gate. When we got their they just started boarding our flight. All this rushing around only to have our plane leaving the gate delayed by a plane that arrived and was stopped right behind us. While we had that delay, we took time again to sing happy birthday to Eugene. Mitch asked the flight attendant to have us raise our hands and count off to make sure that all of us were there. The flight attendant counted a higher number than Mitch gave, so she said apparently our group either grew or they didn’t speak English and just raised their hand because everyone else was.
We arrived in Houston at about 11:30 – about 50 minutes late. We were exhausted from our long day. Most of the group got their luggage, hugged each other and said goodbye. We are planning on getting together for a reunion in the next month or so where we can share our stories and pictures from the trip.
Then there were the 15 of us at the airline counter describing our bags that we last saw in Miami. I was one of the 15 and learned from the lady at the counter that my bag was not lost. It was just “delayed.” I could expect it some time on Thursday. It was just laundry anyway so I wasn’t too concerned. Plus, I was back at home in the USA. As I turned to leave, I saw in the back of the line one happy birthday man, Eugene. I am sure that it will be a birthday he will never forget.
I listened to the radio today and heard the number of children that you helped sponsor in Honduras through Mission of Mercy. 600 and climbing. We had gotten word earlier that afternoon that we had passed our goal of 500. You could sense the passion and reality of those children being helped as Mitch tearfully and joyfully shared this news with our group at the airport in Honduras. Imagine the lives that will be impacted and how God is going to transform that country through those precious little children. Yes, we had a day, but when we look back on this trip what will mean the most to us is that God used us a week to help take His love to the people in Honduras. Wow. That feels good.
So, we are all back today home today and a lady just came to my house this afternoon with my lost luggage – I mean delayed luggage. Thank you for your prayers. I hope that when you have an opportunity to go on a missions trip – whether it is with your church, another ministry or with KSBJ, that you will say yes. I promise that if you do, your life will change for good.
Love,
Tim
Isreal Houghton is in the studio working on a new album. We had a blast talking about God, Sonny (his son), and how Toby Mac is blacker then Isreal. Listen to the clips of the interview…
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