First, let me (Phillip) apologize for taking almost 10 days to update the blog from my recent trip to Haiti. I was able to get the paperwork signed and delivered to the US Embassy as was the plan. However, we learned from the beginning that the journey would prove to be adventurous. I have told the story many times since returning, but haven’t yet put it on the blog. So I will be updating it in multiple parts. Here’s the first account as I was in my guestroom reflecting on the flight from Miami to Haiti.
A plane ride that almost turned into something every news outlet would carry. It all began with “ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing a minor mechanical malfunction and will need to veer back west to circle around a bit.” Not sure what qualifies for minor when you are descending from 39k feet in a jumbo jet with 200 people on board while attempting to land. Not being a pilot, other than in my wasted $.50 arcade games, there isn’t anything minor that would warrant that announcement from the cockpit.
So I began to just remind the Lord of all that WE had done in this adoption process and how WE desired to use it as a testimony for him, stressing the WE (hoping he'd understand that a crash and burn here would eliminate the WE). About 20 minutes later, all the flight attendants gather up front for a briefing, then disperse among the cabin, checking seatbelts and insuring that the Exit Row passengers knew exactly what to do. I bet no one ever sits there thinking they will be at that moment, and I wanted to ask those guys “How you like that extra leg room now?” But I decided not to. The man on my right works in the banking industry in Haiti (what banking industry in the poorest country in the W Hemisphere?) and spoke very little English. The guy to my left was arriving for his stint with the Ecuadorian Army stationed in Port au Prince. Again, no English. But the dear old Haitian lady next to the window spoke good English. So just as we were hearing the next set of instructions in Creole-which I am sure said something about trying for a soft landing, spoke up and told me that she didn’t hear the first announcement from the cockpit (the MINOR malfunction). Not wanting to think about all the scenarios when we did land, I asked her occupation to which she told me about working in an orphanage. Of course her reply also asked if I had ever been to Haiti and my occupation. I told her this was my 3rd trip, we were adopting, and I was a pastor. A face filled smile emerged and she said, “We are both Christians then.” As God has done from the very beginning of the process, he reminded me of his power. As the flight attendants are preparing us for an emergency landing, that beautiful elderly Haitian woman calmly asked, "Do you know what that means?" I was thinking of all the ways I could respond, and before I opened my mouth, she said, “It means WE have a great provider.” Ha-there's that WE again.
Wow-my mind stopped as I soaked in her words, harkening me back to some of my recent Wednesday night teachings to a group of relatively comfortable and stable life Christian Americans in my church. There I taught them that just as God provided the lamb for Abraham and Isaac, he is our provider (Jehovah Jireh). And in the weeks later I also taught that Ezekiel shows us he is Jehovah Shammah (the LORD is there). Truly the WE was not absent from God's mind or sovereignty.
I placed my hands on the seat in front of me as I heard, "Flight attendants, prepare for landing" and smiled as my mind was flooded one more time with the awesome presence of MY Great Provider. We made a rather uneventful landing, but had the runway lined with emergency personnel and vehicles. Turns out the flaps weren't working properly so we had to land like a scalded dog (really fast), and the Captain was concerned about the runway length and the plane's brakes.
On my only night on the ground I am surrounded by people across this impoverished land who have wondered where the provisions are and still need to see Jehovah Jireh. As a monsoon rain falls, having been uable to contact our facilitator for details on my appointment in the morning, I feel so alone. But I remember one more time, I really am not alone. My Lord is here and my Jehovah Jireh has & will provide—even in the midst of life’s “minor mechanical malfunctions.”
Here's a picture to remind you why we are doing all this!!!!
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