How a 6 hour travel day turned into a 21 hour travel day & how fear turned into friendship:
Picture it, 46 people on a school bus-like vehicle with no AC and a 6 hour travel day ahead. It wasn’t too bad as long as the bus was moving and we had some wind blowing in through the windows.
Yeah, that would have been the dream.
After 2 hours of travel, we made it to the border of Nicaragua quite fine but apparently border patrol loved us so much (or didn’t love us so much) that they wouldn’t let us leave. Yay. It started to get really hot on the bus and bladders were getting full so luckily, we were able to get off the bus and wait outside, walk around a bit, and relieve ourselves – but only if you had 3 colones to pay to use the restroom. Ha. We found out that we were waiting on approval for the guitars and ukuleles we had. Only that to get the permits for them our squadmates would be waiting in line while the border employees went on their lunch breaks. No problem, they decided to make the most out of it and break out their instruments for a worship session while they waited. The other in line enjoyed it as well. Glory to God! Long story short, we waited 6 hours at the border and finally made it out of there!
We made it past the entrance border of Honduras without complications and continued driving for another hour or two. Smooth sailing… or so we thought. We came upon a mandatory police stop where we were made to pull the bus into the parking lot of a Honduran police station. As missionaries, making it past the border and getting to your destination without question is always a concern and can be a challenge. So, as the officer stepped onto our bus and began to question us, the Lord was definitely with us. After he had very apparently gotten frustrated with our lack of Spanish speaking skills, we made it past that and the officer wished us well on our travels as he stepped off the bus. But why was the bus still not moving?
Surprise! Like the Nicaraguan border patrol, that bus loved us so much (or didn’t love us so much) that it didn’t want to see us leave. Ha. We waited there at the police station while the bus driver and his sidekick tried to get the bus running properly again, to no avail. The parts stores were closed for the night so that bus wasn’t leaving the station anytime soon.
Thanks be to God that our lovely logistics ladies (better known as our LOLAs) were able to find another bus to come pick all 46 of us up and whisk us away to our destination. In the meantime, God definitely had favor and protection over us and we got to know the officers on duty. Although we were given permission to get off the bus only if we stayed beside it (per the officers), some of us found our way inside. Initially to use the bathroom but mostly to mooch the AC. Lol. We couldn’t exactly just come out and start sharing the gospel with them, but it was really cool to see them as just normal people and not gun-toting corrupt cops. While we were inside sharing very limited Spanglish conversation with them, our other squadmates were outside doing the same. (Except for the few sleeping on the concrete parking lot next to the bus as pictured below. Very comfy, I assume.) Jillian and I shared our Oreos with the officers and I’m pretty sure that’s what won ’em over. They even shared their jugs of clean water with us to fill up our water bottles. & they wanted to be our Facebook friends but I said no. Idk… didn’t seem like the best idea at the time. Ha.
I eventually got tired and grabbed my pillow off the bus to lay down. On the floor of the police station. It was pretty cool that there was almost a fear arriving there but God redeemed that through broken conversation and brought such peace that we could sleep there, knowing we were safe. I still think it’s crazy that 4 of the 5 officers we talked to that night were just 20 years old. 20 years old with families and a job that could endanger their lives at any moment. I continue to pray protection over them.
After a total of another 6 hours, we were on the 2nd bus and on our way to a hostel for the night. Probably the scariest bus ride of my life but I just closed my eyes and trusted that God would get us to our destination safely – and He did. 2:30am, we had finally arrived in Tegucigalpa, Honduras!!
I have to say a 6 hour travel day that turned into a 21 hour travel day was probably one of my top 10 fave memories of the race so far. However, as our next travel day approaches in just 48 hours, please join me in praying that it goes a little more smoothly this time. 🙂
Here we come Guatemala!
