Luggage Shennanigans

Pictured are myself, Scott, Melissa, and Elyse.

      Wow! Finally time to sit down and write.  I wrote this on the plane from New York to Cassablanca and am taking time to type and post it now while I’m in Cassa.  SIM kept me and several other short termers pretty busy these past few days.  We talked about everything from health concerns, Islam, finances, to spiritual warfare.  The other short term friends I met there were about my age.  Scott and Elyse both are in undergraduate.  Melissa has completed her schooling as a dental hygienist.  Scott is heading to Synagol for 6 months to help serve the youth in a remote village.  Elyse is on her way to South Africa for 3 months to help with teaching, and Melissa is on her way to Peru to help with dental work.  Please keep them in your prayers as well. 
    A quick shout out to some of the wonderful SIM personnel that made this all possible.  It was a joy to work with you Sonya, Anthony, Sheila, and Jim.  These people along with many more are the ones that made sure my other SIM actually got to Niger.  Praise God for their help!
    Speaking of praising God, I am still so happy to witness to you about his faithfulness and goodness.  Traveling can be so chaotic and nerve-wrecking, how can I ever hope to make it there alive and with all my luggage?  That’s exactly what was running through my mind the entire day Saturday.  Fortunately God has delivered both to me so far.  By His grace, He did some amazing things Saturday morning to make my trip a lot easier and less expensive.  Let me explain briefly:
    My flight path from Charolette, NC passes through New York on to Cassablanca and finally to Niamey, Niger.  From Niamey I fly or drive to Galmi.  Saturday morning in NC, Jim and I fought for (politely of course) my two 50 lbs. bags to be shipped directly to Niamey, Niger.  Unfortunately the system wouldn’t allow us to no matter what the kind baggage lady tried.  This wouldn’t be a problem if my flight from NC to NY hadn’t been delayed 2 hours.  After landing in NY I needed this time to collect my luggage and check it through Casa all the way to Niamey.  If not I would be charged an extra $600!
    Long story short, God came through and we got the bags patched through from NC all the way to Niamey.  I’m still praising Him!