Most people are genuinely concerned about my safety. People have asked me if I am nervous. Absolutely! Even I, at times, have been SO concerned about my own protection that I have become overly self focused and fear sets in. When that happens, I remind myself why I am going, whose idea this was anyway and how God's protection is exceedingly above all I could hope or imagine. Then I find rest again.
The trip planning has been smooth sailing from the beginning. It has been a ton of work, but what I mean is that everything has fallen into place. Until South Africa. I had planned to spend the weekend in South Africa to visit a couple friends who live in CapeTown before I begin the volunteer work. How amazing would that be! As it turned out, it was too costly to fly to CapeTown to see them, they weren't able to come to me in Johannesburg and since it wasn't the purpose of my trip, I decided to find a hotel where I could adjust to the time zone, recuperate from the 15 hour flight and gear up for Mozambique. The hotel I thought I had secured through a travel agent fell through- no room left at the inn and the other options for $300-400 a night and not even that close to the airport. I began hearing all of these warnings from people about the city and how dangerous it is. Again, "be careful! don't go out alone, don't even take a taxi!" OK, well this should be a fun experience;).
Well, I sent out a prayer request to friends and soon after, secured the same hotel that the travel agent had tried to get for me by me going through Priceline directly (go figure?). I even spoke to someone live to get full assurance that I have a room there. What happened in the meantime is what has blown me away. My pastor connected me with a couple from my church in Seattle who just moved to Johannesburg. They responded immediately to my email and have gone above and beyond to care for me while I am there, truly above and beyond! They provided very practical advice about security/safety measures, called the hotel to get specific instructions for me about navigating to the airport shuttle and are planning to pick me up from the hotel to have lunch with them at their home. It is so amazing to see how the details of this part of my trip have been orchestrated. Why would they go out of their way for me? I realize that this couple who I have never met is "family" because we are part of the body of Christ. There are no questions-they heard about a need and responded. Amazing!
Below is a picture from a rock climbing trip that makes me think about where I am in this journey. We are not yet to our destination, that is, the intended wall we wanted to climb. We took a break along the trail. One friend is looking ahead at how much further we need to go. Another is looking back in the distance to see how far we had come.
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