The first day of any mission trip is often the most stressful. Any travel has the potential to be stressful. Traveling as a group can be stressful. Making it through TSA checkpoints can be very stressful. Traveling to an unknown place where English is not the common language can be exceptionally stressful. Exchanging money to an unfamiliar currency can be downright confusing. Add together all this stress with the near crippling effect of jet-lag-induced exhaustion, and you’ve got a glimpse of our first day in the mission field.
Shortly after 8:00 AM yesterday we boarded a Bartlett Limousine Service (Highland, IL) bus at our church, bright eyed and ready for Hungary. Some 24 hours and more than 5,000 miles later we finally began to settle into our hotel in Debrecen.
Transatlantic crossings are tiring, even for seasoned travelers. Jumping ahead 7 time-zones during an 8.5 hour flight is akin to shift-workers suddenly switching from days to nights. Our bodies are tired, our minds sluggish, but our souls thankful for a safe and uneventful crossing.
Through the stress of travel, God still found a way to surprise our team with unexpected blessings. On our main leg flight from Philadelphia to Budapest last night, the young man sitting next to me was excited to learn I’m a pastor. Personal struggles and suffering have caused him to question his relationship with God. He shared compelling and deeply personal stories of struggle and faith with me. We talked about Jesus’ moral teachings and the communal focus of Christian living. He shared how encouraged he felt by our team’s spirit of servant-hood. Pulling out his wallet, he handed me a $100 bill and asked, “Can I give this to you to support your mission?”
What an unexpected blessing!
Fast forward several hours… Jon and Amanda Good accompanied Pastor Patty and me to the local tram station to buy mass-transit passes for our team for this week. The cost of 10 weekly mass transit passes in Debrecen? 32,000 Hungarian Forint (HUF). Or ~ $100 US Dollars!
How remarkable that a stranger on a flight, compelled by our spirit of servant-hood, would gift us the near exact amount of money we’d need for public transportation this week. God indeed provides! How remarkable to see God at work in such unexpected ways!
I’m thrilled to add this story to my list of experiences in mission work. No matter the anticipated stress associated with the mission at hand, the unexpected blessings God provides along the way never cease to amaze and humble me.
And to Josh, my new friend from the plane, may the discerning presence of God’s wisdom continue to enlighten your heart to seek and do good.
Peace,
rk