Preparing to go to Egypt was to be a nightmare. On October 15th Donna was to fly to Egypt with her Team of Associates. Prior to the date of their flight, Donna made arraignments with an airline luggage clerk and was able to check in some of the luggage at that time.
Upon returning to the airport on October 15th, the warfare began and Donna questioned whether the Lord had heard their prayers for an easy check in. Work shifts had changed and there was a different counter attendant. When Donna checked in for her flight, the counter attendant saw that she had earlier checked in 10 bags. The attendant was not happy. Donna told her, that was why the first attendant had her bring the remaining luggage 3 flights prior to their flight to guarantee that they got on the plane. She accepted what Donna said and they began to check in the rest of the team members, with their bags. Some of them had very large boxes containing computers instead of a piece of luggage. This infuriated the counter attendant even more. Her demeanor became more than frank as she told them they were bringing far too many items that are too large in size. Each of the team members was courteous and cordial to her and Donna believed her heart was being worked on. Although she kept complaining about the baggage, she began to work up a considerate report with each of the team members as they came to check in. Some of the team members had little children they were leaving behind to commit 12 days on the mission field working at the orphanage. Donna believed this also affected the attendant’s heart for the children, as she was inspired to speak with each one as they approached the counter. However it did not keep her from her duty at hand.
After each of the team members checked in, they realized that they miscalculated the bags and they had three more excess bags that needed to be checked in. Donna thought for a moment, “we are doomed”. However, she was reminded of the scripture that “Faithful is He that has called you to it, that will also do it.” Once again, face to face with the counter attendant, sheepishly Donna explained the situation. The attendant began to scold her and said that our team had gone the limit of what anyone should expect from an airline and although this was a good cause, they simply had pushed her to the limit. She did take the bags and never even spoke of the $123.00 fee per bag. God did the work. That boosted their total savings to $1589.00. However, the attendant reminded us that their bags may not arrive in Cairo when they do, simply because they had too many bags and they were too big to fit on the planes
The team arrived in Cairo on October 16th. As they went to the baggage claim, they found that they were missing 29 of 36 bags. But, they were reminded of the faithfulness of God to pass the bags through without fees. He certainly would prove faithful in this area too. This was a big inconvenience for those people whose luggage was not there. Imagine traveling half way around the world to find out that you had none of your belongings. Most of the team members had never traveled outside the country before and the first mission trip for most of them.
It tok two hours in the airport to fill out claims for the luggage. Remember there was also a great communication barrier. The trust factor was not there and relying on God was the only option. It took three days for their baggage to return to them. Since several of the team members did not have a change of clothes, some had to wear the same clothes daily. Those that had extra shared with those that had none. One of the team members stayed in their clothes for 5 days. But, they believed that the Lord was with them.
And He was ... not only did the bags finally make it to where they were staying, they were given $50.00 per person that was missing their bags for a total of $600.00. Therefore, they not only saved money that they didn’t get charged for excess baggage, they also were able to get an additional $600.00 to add to ministry.
But, the greatest lesson and blessing of all was that God never left them, and He was faithful to complete what He had started on that day in October.
Donna will share more of the faithfulness of God throughout her 2 year term in Cairo, Egypt and Asyut, (pronounced Ah-soot) Egypt. I had to add something cute!!