Dear friends,
God is stubborn. He always gets His way. I guess a part of the Christian life is learning to be glad He does. This is the message God seemed to want to deliver to our team last week in Belize.
Saturday morning, our team left Baltimore for Houston on United Airlines (The airline becomes important later). We had a short layover in Houston so we got to the gate just a few minutes before boarding. We had a couple of teens who needed letters of permission signed by both parents. As the flight began to board, the United agent discovered that one of the parents wrote their name but failed to sign the document. (The parents missed this, I missed this, the notary missed this, the two ticketing agents in Baltimore missed this.) He could not get on the flight. This was not my plan. We were stranded in Houston trying to either find a way to get original copies of newly signed and notarized documents to us, or to send him back to Baltimore.
The United agent, Brandy, saw this young man and said, “We need to help him get to Belize. She began a non-stop, determined flood of calls. She contacted ticketing agents in DC and flight attendants who would be heading to Houston and ultimately arranged for the papers to be brought to us in Houston. United provided two Hotel rooms for the night and we arrived in Belize a day late, but in time for worship Sunday evening. (I preached.) The young man, though at first discouraged, saw God’s hand in all of this. He had been at a football camp up until the day before we left for Belize. He had not slept well, and he was exhausted. He recognized that God gave him a private room in an air conditioned Hotel to give him some much needed rest before a grueling week in Belize. God is stubborn, and good.
On Tuesday, one of the women on our team came down with a virulent stomach virus that left her dehydrated. Her roommate was a Physician serving the clinic in Patchakan. We transported her to the clinic where she spent the day recovering and receiving IV fluids. Her teenage son was also on the trip. When he learned of his mother’s illness, this man went to her side. He sat near her, and cared for her. He even left the work site at one point to see to her needs. His attentiveness to his mom lifted her spirits and help to draw them closer together. We want health, but God prefers love. He is stubborn, and good.
This year, we committed to a very new ministry for us. We decided to take our VBS program to Belize. In the past, our “word” ministry has been doing sports with the kids and bringing a short devotional. Doing a full-blown VBS required much more preparation, supplies, and energy. We did not know what to expect. When we arrived, our “deed” ministry was to re-roof a Sunday school building. We could do some of the deconstruction for about two hours on Monday and then the Belizeans took over. We stood around a lot. Several members walked throughout Patchakan inviting children to VBS. Although very hot, we did not have much work to do. Through the week we saw more and more kids come to VBS. On Thursday, around 90 kids showed up. That was amazing. If we had worked as hard on the “deed” ministry as we had in the past we would have lacked energy for teaching kids the Word of God. Oh…on the last day, we finished our projects and helped the church finish its Sunday School building. We had our plan, but God’s was better. He is stubborn, and good.
The Spirit works in the hearts of His people. The Belize team learned to look for that plan. Faith (Hebrews 11:6) involves our purposeful choice to take up God’s plan. How sweet it is when we do this willingly. Thanks for praying.
