I was greeted with the news that our flight was delayed until 12:00 p.m.! Having been nervous already that my kids would be late (which they are notorious for), I was a bit relieved knowing that now, NO ONE should be late. But God had a bigger purpose in mind.
One of my students was born in the Congo, and another student was born to refugee parents who had fled Eritrea. Both have come to Canada, and are permanent residents now, but not citizens with passports yet. Before travelling, we were advised that all they needed was their permanent residency card and travel documents.
However, when we arrived at the airport to check them in, WestJet was informed they both needed specific visas to get into Mexico, and those would take weeks to acquire. By about 10, after much discussion and calling, WestJet apologized, but said they would not fly these students to Mexico, because the government there would send them straight back to Canada. During all these negotiations, I called our missionaries in Mexico to pray. They said they would contact the embassy from their end and see what could be done.
Suddenly, after being told it was all an impossibility, the WestJet attendants came out and told my students not to leave - something might be able to work out. The rest of the team went through security (leaving one chaperone, Peter, behind with the boys) and waited. As we waited, our boarding time was delayed once again by an hour. Fifteen minutes before boarding, I called our chaperone (still with the boys) and was informed they were heading through security! A complete miracle!
There was much cheering and excitement, and when WestJet told them they could go after all, they gave Peter a piece of paper that simply said "Arc Angel," telling him to contact this person if there was any trouble going through Mexican customs. Peter asked what the phone number was, and they just said not to worry, the Mexican customs officers would know who it was.
After arriving in Mexico, and sharing our story with the missionaries, we heard their side of the story: After I had called, they went to their neighbour, whose daughter has connections with the embassy and border officials. She took our boys' information and contacted a friend of hers at the airport to allow them in...this friend stayed on shift an extra hour to ensure our boys arrived safely. This friend's last name? Angel-Arce.
Wow. I learned a lot through this experience.
1. Never judge a situation by our own limited vision of what could happen. Normally, a delay in flight that long would seem like an immense inconvenience, and a late start to our mission. But God had a plan. What seemed annoying and frustrating to us at the time, was actually God's hand of intervention making it possible for us to get the right people involved to allow our boys on the trip. If our flight had departed at 9 a.m., the boys would have had to stay behind.
2. I learned a lesson about faith and trust in God. I know I can have peace and trust God to work out situations for the best, even when they don't seem the best at the time. I have faith that God will carry out the promises that he makes.
3. God designs unique situations to make his glory known - many people on our flight heard our story, and got a glimpse of God's power. The neighbour who helped our team out is not a believer, yet she and her daughter got to play a part in seeing His faithfulness. What a testimony to God's goodness!!
More stories to come...
