Is it still “today”?

Really! 

We thought we knew what day it was. It was Tuesday, July 23^{rd ,} 1:30PM CST when we all arrived at DFW airport, all set to say goodbye to our family of supporters. The first sign of God’s grace on our team was that we were the first in the queue to check in for our American Airlines flight. Since we needed to check-in as a team, Mike, the Operations Supervisor, assigned us our own individual American Airlines agent: Rhonda Everett!  She was a sweet instrument of God’s grace as she checked 9 passports & 27 checked bag pieces, three of which were “oversized” and over the 50 lbs. weight limit, despite our conscientious efforts to keep each and every bag under fifty pounds.  Amazingly cheerful and personable, Rhonda joked with Charelle, Josh and Ryan Stokes, who selflessly served us by volunteering to help lift each back onto her scale. Two hours after arriving at the airport, checking in, hugging and kissing our families and Naomi’s Village staff/board members/mentors and getting through security with our individual carry-ons, we reached our destination: Gate 23. Fully confident that we were on time for our 4:45PM flight, the first domino effect causing snafu hit us – two new tires needed to be replaced on our very new Boeing 777-300 – setting us back 60 minutes and consequently, devouring  nearly half of overlay time once we arrived in London.  Jessica, Katie, and Josh, all reacted well to the maintenance delay, not fully contemplating the butterfly effect that was set into motion. Marri thought, “This is gonna be close but God must have something in mind.”

 

You see, there is only ONE flight on British Airways to Nairobi each day.  Josh and Charelle knew this very well and had requested that the travel agent book an earlier AA flight that would leave DFW in the afternoon, allowing us a 3hr. layover at Heathrow with plenty of time to make flight 65 on British Airways .  It leaves at 10:45AM (Wednesday) without fail. With our landing gear repair, we would land at London Heathrow Airport at 9:47AM (Wednesday), leaving us a mere 35 minutes to deplane, walk the never-ending length of Terminal 2, take a 10 minute bus ride  to Terminal 5 and go through yet another security line. We made it to the terminal only to find that the gate had just closed and we would not make BA flight #65. No Nairobi for us today! Although Charelle saw that scenario being a very real possibility upon hearing the new tire replacement PA announcement, she dared not dash the hopes of the team with her negative thoughts while sitting in DFW. Instead, people watching and a lesson in patience commenced for us all.

Our flight to London has not gone as we planned.  However, we are all together, safe, well fed and in good spirits, though a Chris T. is sleeping like a stranded air traveler whose flight has been cancelled.  She naps….at the table at Dining  Street Restaurant and Bar with her fish and chips sitting in front of her…..she naps on the row of plastic chairs strung together with a pillow to cradle her head. I hope she naps on our new flight! A little jet lag won’t get the best of us! Ryan and John have really enjoyed window shopping in the seemingly endless miles of upscale duty-freel shops. However, they have inquired, “When are we going to stop waiting and get on the next plane?” To which we responded, “The fruit of the Spirit is patience.”  Ryan’s clever comeback was, “I’m getting full of that fruit!”

 Since our original British Airways flight left without the Raybuck team this morning, we have spent 11 hours enjoying the sights, sounds, smells and people watching of Terminal 5, waiting for our Kenya Airlines flight 101 to take off at 8PM London time, Wednesday night. The following 9 hours will we enjoy the food and hospitality of the crew of said flight. This little God ordained “detour” saved us a night’s stay at Gracehouse in Nairobi and the expenses associated with those accommodations: a whopping $650.00 USD!!  We were also given 9 food vouchers worth $26.00 USD each, by British Airways, to absorb the cost of feeding us during our ½ day layover.  Another point of His grace: $234.00 in free food! WHOOP! He showers us with more financial blessings and we are eager to use it to build His kingdom in Kenya.

 

  The question remains: “Is it still today?”  YES!!  It just depends upon where you are in the world. When we awaken in Nairobi from a night of slumber, movies and food it will be 6:30AM Thursday morning.  Our plan is to hit the ground running and arrive at Naomi’s Village within a few hours. We make plans and God laughs!