The events of last week have served to remind me of why I am
here and involved with an organization like Adventures In Missions (AIM). I have heard it said that times of
tragedies are opportunities to create heroes, and the last few days have been no exception.
Last week, the World Race family suffered a loss. One of the young women who was out on
the Race, heeding her call to serve the nations, lost her father suddenly.
I watched for four days, as Ashley and Casey (two AIM staff
members, and past Racers) did everything they could to make contact with the
young woman (who was somewhere deep in the bush in Africa), work with her
insurance company, and get her home as quickly as possible. These two amazing women of God became heroes in those long hours.
Casey made countless phone calls to Expedia, and to a South
African airline, trying to get a ticket refunded (a necessary step for the
insurance company). Throughout
hours on hold and transfer after transfer, I don’t think I once heard her raise
her voice to the people on the other end of the line. There were moments of great frustration, but when Expedia
finally refunded the ticket – the team in the office celebrated. It was no small victory.
Ashley was on the phone or on Skype between 10:30pm and 3am
more than ever before. She was talking to the team in Africa, and assuring them
that this young woman of God would be headed home as soon as possible, and that
people here in the office were all praying for her and her family. She was also arranging for Rusty, the
Squad leader, to accompany this young woman home to the States so that she
didn’t have to deal with the stress of traveling alone on top of everything
else.
Casey talked to Rusty, and a round of cheers went around the
office when he told her they were boarding the plane. Casey was excited enough to want to do a dance right there
in the office. I will be honest;
there were tears in my eyes when we got that news.
Throughout this, both Ashley and Casey were on the phone to
the young woman’s family, giving them regular updates, even when there wasn’t
much to tell.
The point I really want to make is that these two beautiful
women poured their hearts and souls into getting this done. There were days when neither of them
had slept for more than an hour or two and when they were at the office until 7
or 8 pm. There are some people who
might treat this as a part of their job, or as just a few more items on a list,
but for Ashley and Casey, compassion comes first. They do not work for AIM, but to serve the Kingdom of God,
and even in trying times, they work from a place of love.
Casey and Ashley
Heroic Women of God
