As I reflect back over the last week of being in beautiful Guatemala on a mission trip with T.I.M.E. Ministries of Huntsville, AL, and remember the 475 lives of the people who we will see again (if not on earth, in heaven), one of the first remembrances will be of our very first day of traveling.
We got up extra early that morning so that we could be at the airport by 4:30 am because our plane left at 6 am….or so we thought. There were eight of us; Larry & Debbie Wright, Gerald & Beverly Cochran, Doug Seaver, Belinda Jones, Carolyn Warren and myself. Each of us had one personal luggage and one ministry luggage to be checked in at the airport along with two carry-on’s. We each had to ensure that we only carried 3 ounces of bottled liquid such as shampoo and conditioner, lotion, and deodorant. These are the airlines rules that have been in place for a couple of years now. We got there, checked our luggage in, went thru security, said our goodbyes to those that took us to the airport, then loaded the airplane, and everything seemed in order. Then we sat in our seats for almost an hour while we waited for the storm to pass that was making its way through Huntsville.
Then we were finally in the air! The flight to Houston was a nice flight, however because we were late taking off, we missed our connection in Houston. Our plane was supposed to leave Houston at 9 am however, we didn’t arrive until 9:15 am. So, thank the Lord, we were able to get on the next available flight at 11:30 am. We considered ourselves blessed because there was one man there that was told he was going to have to wait several days for his flight!
Once we received our updated tickets in Houston, we had to go thru airport security again. We showed our passports & tickets and then proceeded to take our shoes off and put our carry-on bags thru the airport xray machine. This time they went thru Carolyn Warren’s carry on bag. They found three big bottles of suntan lotion! So she had two options: 1) she could throw it away, or 2) she could take it out and put it in her checked bags. Since we had a little time before our next plane ride, she decided that she would put it in her carry on bag. And this was no small undertaking.
I went with her to help. One lady told her to take it directly to the front desk and have them put it in her bag. We did as instructed and then had to go back thru security, take off our shoes, etc. THEN, we finally sat down to wait on the 11:30 am departure. One important thing we learned on this mission trip was to be flexible.
Guatemala City Airport
To make a long story short, we flew into Guatemala City and arrived around 2:30 pm. The city was beautiful! As we landed you see multi-colored buildings, some small and some with many floors. You also can’t help notice the very beautiful mountains in the background.
We are met at the airport by Carol, who is from the Guatemala Baptist Association. She heped setup our itinerary for the week.
We were also met by our bus driver and translator for the week. His name is Rudy. He lives in Guatemala City and is from the area. He has a wife and several children and grandchildren.
The rest of the day was spent riding in Rudy’s van, going around these very winding, curvy roads to the town of San Marcos. We would have to hold to the sides of the van to keep from almost being thrown out of our seats! The only thing that I can think of that it compares with is riding thru the Smokey Mountains. We must have gone from side to side in that van for at least three hours! Larry Wright appropriately named Rudy’s van “Air Rudy”! We certainly felt like we were flying!
We did stop for dinner at The Restaurant Kotok for some authentic Guatemala food. It was very good and we were careful to not drink the water. Then we were back on the road again.
Once we found our hotel, all I wanted to do was go to bed because it was around 11 pm by then. After Belinda, Carolyn, and I put our luggage in our rooms and picked out our beds, I did just that.
I’m going to try to give you a day to day account of our trip. Tomorrow will be our first day of ministry.
******Just wanted to add that later, I found out that we actually had 511 salvations!! Praise the Lord!!*******
Filed under: Guatemala, Ministry, missions Tagged: | airport, Guatemala, missions, security
