Yeah, so didn’t really know when I posted the last blog that we really would be doing a continent change…but we did!!
We are in LONDON!!! This is how it went…
There was a lot of talk about us having to change our destination due to the airport problems in Bangkok…so we waited and waited hoping that “one day” we would be able to leave. Our initial flight was to have left at 8PM on November 26, with our final destination being Johannesburg, Africa to ride a bus to Swaziland, Africa. We spent most of our days waiting for “the phone call” from our squad’s logistical folks, which usually meant staying around the YWAM base where we were staying because we were never sure when we would get “the phone call.”
One week later, on December 3, a small group of us headed out to ministry with a group that some of my squadmates had met in our “waiting period.” As we were picking up trash in the slum area, I heard these squeals and finally an outrageous roar from the girls with me as I heard the words…”we have to be packed and ready to leave the base by 7PM! Oh, and we are heading to LONDON!!” Thankfully it was only 3PM at the time, so we hurried home for showers and to pack up.
We found ourselves at a convention center in Bangkok, which was the temporary airport terminal for the military base that had been opened in order for flights to come in and out of Bangkok. After waiting in long lines to check in, sitting for hours and waiting in more lines, we boarded a bus that took us to the airport to board our 5AM flight. By the way, I have never boarded a bus giving my airplane ticket before!! The bus ride was an hour or so, but we were not allowed to exit the bus until the plane was ready for us because technically we had already “checked out” of the country!! We had a 4 hour layover in Adu Dhabi, which we spent in line to obtain our tickets…literally 3 1/2 hours spent in line…patience is a virtue in case you were wondering!!
We finally arrived in London on December 4 around 6PM!! And we looked like crazy people because we were planning to be in Africa. A little bit of a climate change, but one that is quite delightful if you ask me!! I am NO longer hot and sweaty every day… I will try to re-enact the warmest outfit that I had on when we arrived here and post it because it was rather humorous!!
The Lord totally had different plans for us this month because within less than three days we had a ministry secured that was able to take all 32 of us, board us, feed us and be relatively close to our tiny budget…London is a little more expensive than the World Race budget…but the Lord had everything planned out for us!! Praise Him!!
We are working this month with an international church that reaches out to ethnic groups within the city. They are providing multi-cultural training for us to assist in the evangelistic outreaches we are doing during our time here.
Jesus really loves me because I was not certain how I was going to survive a HOT Christmas in Africa…I was really looking forward to being in Africa, but I know that the Lord had other plans for us this month which was so apparent when everything fell into place so quickly!!
