Last night was disappointing…As I mentioned in our last post, Delta changed our flight path back, due to Uganda’s recent history with Ebola (I already had COVID on a previous trip, how bad could Ebola be?). We were told the CDC required that we be routed through one of five airports in the US, and Delta chose Atlanta for us. This would result in us landing seven hours (a layover in Amsterdam airport) later than we originally planned.
By the way, when it is 6-7 hours to cross the country to the airport, you look for ways to consolidate trips. This meant that Mike, Stu and I jumped in a van at 6:30 this morning to drive to appointments Missionary Dave Hagins and his daughters needed to make in Kampala. With the early take-off, and our flights being later, we would land at MSP 49 hours after jumping in the van! I have been struggling with my attitude.
One of the great phrases trainees will learn over the next three years is that “God is sovereign, wise and good.” God reminded me that was true for me in this situation, not just in the classroom - time I paid attention to my own teaching. Travel is one of the challenges of this gig, especially at the end. I remembered this was a small price for the great privilege, and laid down for 3 hours of sleep! God is sovereign, wise and good…repeat, repeat….
We had an uneventful trip into Kampala, appointments were made and we had lunch. When the five of us were on our way to Entebbe, Dave got a ticket! The cop said that he had been clocked at 78 in a 40 km zone. She walked away to get some documentation and Dave said “she’s looking for a bribe”. She came back and mentioned that he was looking at a fine-he acknowledged that he was speeding and apologized. She walked away and a colleague came up to the door. Dave said, “I was speeding, I apologize”. The colleague said, “perhaps you could show some appreciation”-which is code for “give her some cash”. Dave confessed his speed again. The original cop came back and told Dave he was facing 200,000 Ugandan Schillings, approximately $55. Crickets…Dave said he would pay the fine. He was reluctantly handed the ticket.
We then made it to a hotel that Dave and his girls were staying that night about two miles from the airport. We had about seven hours to kill before we needed to get back to the airport. We sat down (by beautiful Lake Entebbe-see pic). I opened my Delta app and was surprised to see that the trip I had no longer was going through Atlanta, arriving seven hours later. I told Mike and Stu and they jumped on their apps and discovered the same. Dave jumped on the internet and said that at 2 am today the Biden administration removed the Ebola rerouting restriction. So we’re back to the original plan. God is sovereign, wise and good.
