It was a travel day like any other… or so we thought! After sitting in the construction laden LAX airport for hours, it was finally time to board the plane that would take us to Guangzhou, China. I settled into my seat on the plane and after a nice in-flight meal, I began to drift off to sleep.
Fifteen minutes later, I feel a tap on my shoulder. In my half asleep stupor, I manage to comprehend that one of my squad members has passed out on the floor in the back. As I am on my way to the back to check on him, another squad member runs passed me to get to the bathroom. It was like a scene out of a movie. The one who passed out recovered, however the other squad member continued to get worse. The airline was gracious enough to offer her a bed in first class in hopes that she would get better. Upon landing in China, my coleader and I took her straight to the airport clinic. We had about nine hours to work with before our next flight.
After a little poking and prodding, the nurse advised us to leave the airport and go to a hospital. She believed it was the dreaded “a” word… appendicitis.
We got into a taxi and drove off, leaving our third coleader and the other fifty squad members behind.
After multiple tests, the results confirmed she had appendicitis. The surgery couldn’t take place until around midnight that night. The rooms were full, so we waited in a hallway outside of the emergency room. It was cold and we were dressed for the tropical climate of the Philippines. I ventured out and bought my coleader and I matching jumpsuits and some McDonalds with hopes that would sustain us for the night.
We befriended the doctor in the emergency room who offered us warm jackets from his ex-girlfriend.
The procedure that night went smoothly, and we woke up the next morning to a new day. Here were some issues: The squad member needed four days to recover before she could fly. We were staying illegally in a closed country with no visa. We were in a strange Chinese city with no knowledge of the culture or language.
There were so many unknowns during our time in China. However, I saw God provide in ways I didn’t even know to ask for. During the week we were there, our surgeon friend acted as our translator and tour guide. He took us to his favorite restaurants and showed us the top places to see in the city. He translated for us while we attempted to get visas. He brought us food while we were staying at the hospital and translated for us when doctors would yell things at us.
We found out that we could not get visas and instead would have to pay a $1,000 fine for staying illegally in the country. The next day, we went to the airport ready for anything. We were taken into a room and asked why we didn’t have visas. We explained our situation and we were told we had to pay the fine. The immigration officer told us to wait in the room until he came back. About 30 minutes later, he came back and told us they had waived the fine!
These last five months squad leading N squad have been amazing. This is just one story of what God did. I am still in need of some funding to help me finish this season well. I have the opportunity to go back and visit N squad on the field two times before they come home. I am $4,000 away from my final goal.
I know that with God that number isn’t so bad and when I question His provision, I just remember that he got me out of China FO FREE.
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