Our "Team Kenya" as we became called, learned this very lesson as we set out from Upland, CA to eventually end up in a little village named Kipkaren in Kenya. After several months of praying for flexibility with this trip, we experienced time and again what flexibility looks like and means in practice when schedules change, flights are delayed, luggage is lost again and again, a large group goes 3 days with no sleep and no shower, and communication breaks down.
For those who did not hear the fun stories, our flight from LA to Washington D.C. got delayed due to a lightning storm that was ONLY over the airport. We were re-routed to Pittsburgh, only to sit on the plane for another 3 hours because the storm wouldn't pass and we were unable to leave the plane due to security laws. We then made a return trip back to Washington D.C just in time of being under the 3 hour time limit security law of unauthorized landing. Our 5 hour flight turned into over 9 hours, with no food and them rationing the water they had.
Upon arriving in D.C., we learned we were a whole 7 minutes late in missing our plane to Ghana. Another couple hours later in a customer service line to learn that our next best bet to get to Kenya was to take a morning flight to London, then proceed to Nairobi. So we camped out in the D.C. airport for another 6 hours, then proceeded to London so we could have a 12 hour layover!! Needing to be at the airport early to retrieve our luggage that did not make it on our plane with us, we camped out another night in the airport, this time in a small cafe that offered only wooden chairs (be flexible!) Hakuna Matata!
After the wonderful night in London, we found out in the morning that the plane bringing our luggage was 3 hours late... proceeding to get checked in then, we found out the plane was another 30 minutes late... then 1 hour late... therefore making it impossible for our luggage to get on our plane with us. So glad we packed our carry-ons so cautiously, hakuna matata!! Getting on the plane in London we all felt so relieved to finally be on our way to Africa!! Sitting on the tarmac for another 1 hour because there was too much traffic in the air came at no surprise to us by this point. Tired, and in serious want of a shower, we were just glad to finally be heading to our final destination (almost). We could only pray our luggage was having a safari njema (safe journey) as well.
Throughout all of this, I greatly pondered all the people I had asked to pray that our luggage would get to the village safely and without damage, thievery, or confiscation ahead of time. We were taking over a lot of medical equipment and tools that we did not want to get "lost" along the way, either through the airport's "fragile" handling of luggage or by officials that decided such items should not be brought into the country.
Arriving in Kenya was such a relief, not only after flying for 3 days with no shower or alone time, not only after a week of not getting enough sleep, but to be back in my beloved country. Gripped with exhaustion, I almost could not take it all in. I had finally returned. Tears fell in that airport... for I was too tired to fight the whirlwind of emotions that were flooding my heart and mind all at once.
Spending the night in Nairobi to get a flight to Eldoret the next day (which was also over 3 hours late), half the team headed back to the airport in the morning to retrieve our luggage that had arrived after us. We got together to once again pray for our missing cargo that held so many "necessities" for the next couple weeks. The 3 days without our luggage, often made each of us ponder what the weeks would be like if we never saw our luggage. Was God teaching us how little we need? How much we need to depend on Him? How to not put value in "things"? Surely if God didn't want us to have our luggage, we wouldn't and He would provide. Coming back from the church to the place we were staying, we all smiled when we saw our luggage sitting out on the lawn next to the van we were taking. It was all there, all accounted for! Nothing was lost... or confiscated. We also had the added blessing that God provisioned for other missionaries from ELI (Mark and Cathy Lessig) to be at the same place, the same time we were and they were driving back to Eldoret the same day we were flying there! They were able to take half of our luggage with them, ensuring the "necessities" for ministry (the donations) arrived safely as they skipped the last leg of our journey.
In conclusion, when you pray for flexibility, you will most likely be given opportunities to be flexible! God did a great work in getting all of us safely to Kenya, and eventually to Kipkaren. We learned afterward that since our luggage arrived after us, we were able to walk it out of the airport, without needing to go through customs at all! Mungu ni mwema (God is good)!! It was a long journey, but He was faithful for each step of it. We saw His hand as our plans were tweaked and molded into His plans, arriving at the precise time He wanted us to. No small event that took place took Him by surprise, for He has a reason and purpose for everything He permits. In the end, I can definitely say we are all a little more flexible these days. We learned how to have the control taken away from us, and we learned that we can survive out of a backpack for over 3 days- more than some Kenyans live off of their entire lives. It wasn't easy (or always fun), but I know I at least got a little closer to accepting the Kenyan motto, Hakuna Matata (no problem/worries)!! Mungu ni mwema!!
Psalm 135:7: "He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightening for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries"
Ubarikiwe (bless you all),
Laurie
