By most people’s definition, I would be considered an “experienced” global traveler. Nearly two million miles flown with Delta and partners, back and forth to Africa every month from Seattle, etc. However, once in a while things go wonky and I’m pushed to my limit with travel stress. Such was the case on this trip from SeaTac to Mali and then to Egypt. I am thankful that through it all, I was being sustained by the prayers of God’s people, which I talk about at the end. But first, I’ll “debrief” with you while I’m here in Egypt where things are much calmer than previously.
After Delta changed my direct flight leg from SeaTac to Paris, I ended up taking an early flight through Cincinnati to get to Paris – and all was fine, except for no sleep. Six hours in Paris airport, then on to AirFrance flight to Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Typically a visa beforehand is required in Ivory Coast, but since I was just transferring to another flight (booked separately on TunisAir) with a two hour layover in Abidjan, I did not need the visa.
I was on the plane in Paris waiting for departure, dozing off, then woke up to hear that there were technical problems with the plane and there would be a delay. No big deal, but as the minutes ticked by, my stress level began to grow, knowing I only had a two hour layover in Abidjan. 90 minutes later, I knew I was in trouble as they gave no indication of an immediate departure. I would almost certainly miss my connection, had no visa, and no way to contact TunisAir about my flight to Bamako where I was scheduled to preach the next morning. I talked with the purser, chief flight attendant, while trying to text with Delta to consider my options. The Delta agent wrote me that if I could get off the plane immediately, there was another flight I could catch to Bamako, Mali via Casablanca. I had flown this route before, so I finagled my way off the plane (fortunately only had carry-ons) and raced across the Paris airport (no small feat) to try to secure a spot on that flight. I found an AirFrance agent who checked and told me there was no flight existed which the Delta agent had described. Now it was too late to get back on my original flight (not that that would have been a good option), so I began to check on other options.
Long and painful story a bit shorter, Delta would not help me fly to any other location besides Abidjan with my existing ticket (checked every conceivable alternative location in West Africa), but AirFrance would not let me board another flight to Abidjan since I did not have the visa. I was stuck, and I lost my TunisAir flight to Bamako. So I needed to start from scratch booking a new flight from Paris to Bamako for the following day. There was no financial help offered by anyone, although AirFrance had created this problem. Ouch… an extra $800 bill! However, when I went to book the flight, my credit card the mission requires us to use was declined for suspicious activity. I had Holly on the phone, but Wells Fargo would not allow me to talk “through Holly” with them to get the decline removed so I could use the card. Finally we found a workaround, and I booked a hotel stay to get a few hours of sleep, and finding the shuttle to the hotel was no easy feat in itself. From there, I made it out of Paris through Casablanca to Bamako at 2:00AM Monday morning, thankful I had barely arrived in time to begin the training six hours later. 68 hours of travel from Olympia, WA to Bamako, Mali… ooofta!
The training in Mali went well for the most part, with normal challenges such as power outages during most of the four days I was there, 104 degree temps during the day, down to upper 80’s at night, translation problems into Bambara due to power probs and poor translator, etc. But God did some great things and I was encouraged by the growth in the 13 church planters and two coordinators present for the training. However, by the time I left on Thursday night, I had averaged only three hours of sleep for the last week, so was fairly frayed.
Then came the trip to Cairo, Egypt from Bamako, Mali via Algiers, Algeria on AirAlgiers. Shouldn’t be a problem… right? First, there were unprecedented lines everywhere in the Bamako airport. Many dozens of people waiting to check in at every one of about 7-8 different check in stations for flights – everything from weighing carry-ons to multiple document checks, multiple security screenings, immigration, etc. And no one spoke English, only French and Bambara. No signs indicated flight updates. And no one had any answers.
I had intentionally packed very light, just a backpack and a small rollerboard weighing eight kilos, but they told me this was not allowed – only one carry on total. My backpack weight put me over the 10KG limit. By this time, I did not have time to check my bag and get on the flight by starting again through all the lines as my flight was scheduled to leave in 45 minutes. I begged people to let me go ahead so I didn’t miss my flight and get stuck in Bamako with no way to get to Cairo for a training I was doing the next day. Some helped, and others got angry. God was gracious in pulling the guard who was weighing carry-ons away from his station for a few minutes at the exact moment when I was next in line allowing me to bypass that issue.
I finally made it to the area where the gates were, but again, no signs and no clue where to go for my flight which was scheduled to leave in five minutes. I ran around asking for anyone who could help, and finally found one other guy who was on my flight to Algiers who spoke French only. Through my Mali coordinator Emmanuel, now at 1:00AM, I found out the flight had been delayed. Whew! I was relieved. However, as the minutes ticked along and my sweat dripped and thirst increased (no water anywhere), I started getting nervous if I would make my three hour connection in Algiers. I had no local currency, minimal sleep, and very few answers. Finally, 2.5 hours later, after four more security, document, and carry-on checks, we boarded our flight, and I was very uncertain if I would make the connection.
When we arrived in Algiers, I raced off the plane only to wait in a bus for other passengers, then through transit immigration and security checks, watching the time till my flight was due to depart… 20 minutes, 10 minutes, and five minutes before departure I arrived at the gate ready for bad news, only to find that flight was also delayed. So we boarded the plane 30 minutes later, and I made it to Cairo. Whew!
If you’ve made it to this point in the story, congratulations! Thank you for your perseverance as you endured my saga. But I want to share that through everything, I was most grateful for two realities: my wife was back home and we were able to stay connected for most of the critical moments through an international SIM card in my phone that my friend Ryan let me borrow. Holly was a huge help! The other thing was that Holly had alerted many friends, ministry partners, and mission team members from our church who were actively interceding during key times. Thank you to all of you who were “with me” on this journey, and I was acutely aware of our spiritual connection. Since arriving in Egypt, I’ve been able to get some good sleep, and God has been doing good things here. However, I must admit I’m fairly wrung out, and am eager to be home with my bride and experience a period of decompression and processing lessons learned and what I should have done differently. As my family frequently reminds me, “God is good,” and so are His people.
