Praise God for His goodness and faithfulness! We have safely arrived in Bangui, Central African Republic! As we stepped off the plane early this morning, we were reminded of the heat and humidity of hot July days in Wooster. Although the wait at the airport was long, we were all thankful for the one among us who speaks the native language as well as his local friend who helped us through the process of customs.
A missed connecting flight from Atlanta to Paris, led us to an extra country, The Netherlands, as a connecting point in our journey. Once we finally arrived in Paris, we were pleasantly surprised by temperatures that I can only guess where in the 50's (one can never be sure as the rest of the world talks in Celcius). We were greeted by Nicole Plaster, a GBIM missionary to France, at a train station one block from her home. We had the pleasure of taking in true French Cuisine at a little Fondue restaurant, seeing the beautiful architecture of Notre Dame, and standing in awe as we looked at the Eiffel Tower. But little Zac Harley kept putting so aptly the anticipation that was in all of us, "When are we gonna go to the airport and go to Africa. I want to go to Africa!"
And now we are here, exhausted but ready to be used by God and anticipating what He will allow us to do for His glory. As we drove from the airport to the guest house we were staying at, the physical poverty was glaringly obvious: people begging, walls with broken bottles glued to the top to protect any property that one values, and houses made out of aluminum and smaller than what we all would considerable a comfortable size for a bedroom. But already there is a joy and love in these people that we would be amazed to see in anyone living in those physical conditions. What a blessing it will be to learn from these people so full of joy!
A missed connecting flight from Atlanta to Paris, led us to an extra country, The Netherlands, as a connecting point in our journey. Once we finally arrived in Paris, we were pleasantly surprised by temperatures that I can only guess where in the 50's (one can never be sure as the rest of the world talks in Celcius). We were greeted by Nicole Plaster, a GBIM missionary to France, at a train station one block from her home. We had the pleasure of taking in true French Cuisine at a little Fondue restaurant, seeing the beautiful architecture of Notre Dame, and standing in awe as we looked at the Eiffel Tower. But little Zac Harley kept putting so aptly the anticipation that was in all of us, "When are we gonna go to the airport and go to Africa. I want to go to Africa!"And now we are here, exhausted but ready to be used by God and anticipating what He will allow us to do for His glory. As we drove from the airport to the guest house we were staying at, the physical poverty was glaringly obvious: people begging, walls with broken bottles glued to the top to protect any property that one values, and houses made out of aluminum and smaller than what we all would considerable a comfortable size for a bedroom. But already there is a joy and love in these people that we would be amazed to see in anyone living in those physical conditions. What a blessing it will be to learn from these people so full of joy!
Arriving at the guest house
Laura Gibson
PS. Bloggers note: Barb Teach, one of our team members, was not able to travel with the team, due to illness. She was in the emergency room the night before the flight with the flu. Please, pray that she will be able to join the team this week.
1 comment:
So glad you guys are there already. We were dying to get news, but I understand how you feel after being "hauled around" for so long.
We are praying for you all!
Pastor Ivanildo Trindade
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