risk & reward

we had been looking to get personally involved in the lives and ministries of another country for the past two years, before we had learned about the Project Link initiative. being the son of a Guyanese of mother, and grandson of former missionaries to Guyana, i suggested Guyana. this past summer, while attending the North American Convention in Anderson, i was able to connect with and begin a relationship with Rev. Colin and Carla Edghill, the new national leaders for the Church of God in Guyana. they quickly invited us to come in September to meet the other pastors and churches and to learn first hand how we may be able to partner together. we agreed that if the Lord was in it, we would be there.

one of the great joys of preaching is watching your congregation understand what you’re saying – but it’s truly exciting when you see someone live out the message. as lead pastor of Sixth Avenue Church of God (Decatur, AL), i’ve often taught, “great testimonies are the result of great risks.” Alison now has a great testimony.

the Lord quickly made the way for my wife and i through the generosity of friends and family. when Alison saw the information of our coming trip and heard what we were doing, she immediately said, “I’m going!” Alison received encouragement, but also a few “reality checks.” what about school? what about work? and as a newly wed, where are you going to find the money?

Alison went and spoke to her teachers, they would excuse her from classes. Alison went and talked to her boss. he gave her the time off—then he handed her the bonus check that all the employees were to receive that day – more than half the cost of the trip! all she needed now were some vaccinations and the passport.

we all sent in our applications and documents for our passports with plenty of time before the trip. my wife and i received our passports about a week and a half before the trip. one week before the trip, Alison received a letter stating that as a newlywed with a name change, she would need additional applications and documents that were not originally requested. disappointed, but not giving up, she collected her information and sent in the additional applications next day mail with a check for expedited service to our regional office. The next morning, Friday, August 26, she talked to her contact that he had indeed received everything at the regional office in New Orleans.

later that day, we learned that New Orleans was being evacuated because of Hurricane Katrina. as we watched the news reports of the following destruction that weekend, we felt Alison’s chances of going to Guyana were also being destroyed.

on Monday, Alison called trying to find out what was happening to her application. Apparently her information was entered into the computers, but not sure where her documentation may be. Someone told her she could just drive down to Miami and get a passport from that office, not realizing how far it is from north Alabama to Miami. The next day, her husband Grant was told that the Miami office had a reputation of being really efficient with passports. while in their home that night, they told me these things about the Miami office, and i said, “well you know, we do have a little more than a 4 hour layover in Miami on the way to Guyana. i wonder if they could forward everything there for us to pick up, that would give them an extra day to put or two to put everything together.” Alison was a little encouraged and was ready to try.

“No,” was the first answer Alison received to our bizarre request on Wednesday, August 31. Disappointed again, but undeterred, she called back. This time, the representative said, “yeah, that’ll work. I’ll do it right now.” Alison hung up not knowing what would happen. Thirty minutes later, the Miami office called her and said, “we have all your information. bring new forms of documentation when you arrive in Miami, come to the third floor of the federal building and ask for Nancy.”

Alison packed her bags and prepared to fly out with us early Friday, September 2. she was taking a flight to a city she had never been to, with the hopes of catching a taxi (which she had never done), to find a building she had never seen, to find a lady she had never met, to get her passport done in less than 3 hours so that she could continue her journey to be her church’s first lay-representative to Guyana. “with God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26)

we arrived in Miami, caught that taxi – but the address we had was wrong and we were spending precious time driving in circles. we got out of the cab, asked for directions, hopped on the Metro Mover, found the building, went to third floor, to the first window and asked for Nancy.

“I’m sorry, but Nancy’s no longer handling those cases. Fill out this form and get back in line,” the receptionist said. Two hours and fifteen minutes to go and we just hit another road block. Alison, visibly frustrated took the form to the back of the line, sat on the floor and filled out the paper as we sat in the crowded waiting room to pray and wonder what would happen. when she got to the front of the line and turned in her form, they told her they would call her by name in a few minutes. Two hours to go, and nothing certain, all we could do was wait.

with one hour to go before needing to head back to the airport, we urged Alison back to the window to ask how much longer. as she approached the window, her name was called. Alison gave all of her documentation, and began to wait again. Alison was called back to the window to pick up her passport right on time – with one hour to go before our connecting flight.

we caught another cab back to the airport, rushed in to find our connecting airline ticket counter more than full. we looked frantically for our flight number but were unable to find anything. then we heard a man for the counter yell out, “anyone else for BIWI flight 431?” i yelled back to him and he said, “you better get up here if you want to catch that flight.” we were ushered ahead of the crowd and checked in with just enough time to run down the concourse, through security and to our gate in time for boarding. Alison was getting on a plane to Guyana.

on September 9, just like the disciples sent in His name, she returned full of joy.