We are done in Europe after four months, so our travel between months this time involved a continent change!
We started in Sofia, Bulgaria, our debrief location, on Friday. We flew from there to Istanbul, Turkey, with Turkish Air, on a flight about one hour in length.
When we reached Istanbul, we only had four hours to get visas for twenty people, get through customs, grab our bags, check into our next airline (Emirates), get back through passport control and security, and get to our next flight. For those of you who may know the amount of people and airlines and gates at Ataturk Airport, you know how close we were to our time limit. One person is easy enough, but twenty-two… Completely different.
Our second flight was with Emirate Airlines to Dubai. The flight Eastwood hours, getting us into the airport about 01:00 on Saturday. We had to go through security again, but our bags were already checked through to Zambia, and there simply aren’t many people going through security at 02:00. We also had a seven-hour layover, so we got some sleep in the airport. We also each got a voucher for a free meal at certain restaurants! If the World Race teaches nothing else, it teaches you that free food is always claimed!
Our last flight was into Lusaka, Zambia, after four hours of air time. We got in around 15:00 local time on Saturday, and it took quite a chunk of time to get our visas. Thankfully one of our squad mates had injured her ankle in Bulgaria, and she was allowed one person to accompany her, so the two of them were able to get through customs rather quickly and pull all our baggage together.
We then had a bus ride to Ndola, Zambia, to our ministry site. Because of visas and loading the ministry bus, as well as packing twenty-five people (squad and hosts) into twenty-one seats (our bags took up the two back rows of the bus), we left Lusaka Airport at 17:00. The bus ride usually takes five hours. Because of the weight, the engine was overheating, and a faulty charger made our bus a “push to start” version. All of this and the bad roads turned our ride into eight hours. We did not get to our ministry until 01:00 on Sunday.
Despite travel days, we are in Africa! I am excited for a continent I’ve never been on, and cultures I have never experienced!
#GodIsInControl #redefiningdisciple
#THIRD
