Turbulence in air and on ground

PANAJACHEL, Guatemala — We experienced a bit of turbulence in the air and on the ground, but our arrival in Guatemala has gone well, thanks be to God.

After an enjoyable evening with my brothers in Christ, Grant and Marcus, who dropped me off at the airport, I met up with Darren, my teammate for this trip at the airport, whose parents and brother dropped him off.

Landing in Guatemala we met delays when a brother from the Philippines attending Viña's conference lost a piece of luggage. While he and another brother, Colin Edwards, executive director of Vernacular Video Ministry International, waited inside the airport, Darren and I waited outside, as a throng of Guatemalans waited anxiously for loved ones.

After about an hour, we were good to go — finally loading luggage into the shuttle that by this time had made at least three extra loops around the airport to avoid paying a parking fee. Then my phone rang. “How do you feel about me throwing you another twist?” asked my friend, Rick McArthur, chairman of Viña Studios board of directors. “OK,” I said, somewhat hesitantly.

“There are three girls there at the airport who have been there since yesterday,” he continued. “Their ride never appeared, and we don’t know if it will.”

Moments later, I located a very relieved Guatemalan airport official who was more than happy to guide me to the lost sisters from Minnesota. Turns out Rick’s son Jeff got a Facebook chat message from a girl who visited Guatemala two years ago, asking whether he lived near the airport and could help some girls in need.

The girls looked exhausted, resting their heads on a table in the airport food court. Soon, they were smiling and relieved to be embarking on their journey again. Fortunately, our shuttle was headed the same direction and it wasn’t any trouble to add them to the mix. It was fun to bump into a friend at the airport as well, who I wouldn’t have seen unless Rick had called about the damsels in distress.

Viña’s international audio/video conference here in Pana has been going well. I think folks are being challenged and learning during the sessions. Please pray for these brothers and sisters to effectively use audio video media to communicate the Gospel and Bible truth effectively and clearly, reaching the hearts of their audience for God’s glory.