Vietnam - The flight over
What shall we say about the flight over from Los Angeles, CA to Tapei, Taiwan? It was long and uneventful. This is a good thing. Flying EVA Airlines (Taiwanese Airlines), on a Boeing 777, the flight took 14 hours from wheels up to wheels down. I was able to get about 5 hours of sleep total and the entire flight took place during the night.
I am amazed at the globalization of the world through technology. While in Los Angeles International Airport, I was able to connect with my family on a conference call using my Samsung Galaxy S smartphone. We had five people on the line: British Columbia, Canada; Kansas City, MO; Salt Lake City, UT, and Guatemala (our son's fiance) and we all prayed together. This is so unlike the trips that people took 200 years ago by ship, when people said their goodbyes not knowing if they would ever see each other again.
We took over 18 bins of medical supplies, all of which needed to be hand-transported from domestic terminal to international. It was a long walk and carry. Good thing the bins had rollers! We arrived at the ticket counter early, but the agents graciously checked us in as a group.
While in Salt Lake City, we saw a blessing unfold first-hand as we were able to check all bins without extra cost. Delta is no longer a partner airline with EVA, so we could not check through on international standards. Fortunately, there were enough DELTA medallion flyers who were able to put the bins on their ticket -- and some grace with the agent. Otherwise, it would have been a charge of $60 per bin.
This just illustrates a basic principle in missions: plan for all contingencies and then let go and allow God to work. Rarely, does anything go according to our plans, but it does go according to His plan.
We are all safe in Tapei. In three hours we will be heading toward Hanoi, Vietnam.
Love to all,
Pastor Jeff
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A school building was fenced off with barbed wire in Espoo, Finland in 1908 (see the picture in the link). Swedes fenced off school buildings with barbed wire, in order to ban children the access to a school.
ReplyDeleteThe Swedish government was responsible for the most iron ore the Nazis received. Kiruna-Gällivare ore fields in Northern Sweden were all important to Nazi Germany.
These massive deliveries of iron ore and military facilities from Sweden to Nazi Germany lengthened World War II. Casualties of the war have been estimated at 20 million killed in Europe. How many of them died due to Sweden's material support to Nazi Germany, is not known.
http://www.thoughts.com/raimo/case-sweden