Arrivals & Departures

I jolted awake as the plane touched down at Lusaka Airport. After four layovers and 24 hours of traveling from Belgium, I had finally made it to Zambia!

After successfully making it through immigration and gathering my luggage, I followed the advice given, and immediate found a taxi driver. I’ll never forget that ride, as I experienced Africa for the first time (while driving on the opposite side of the road).  A mix of excitement and nervousness ran through me as I thought of this crazy, new adventure that lay ahead. Little did I realize what I would be heading into…

After arriving at the guesthouse, I was warmly welcomed by some missionaries. A little while later, Jay showed up in his pilot uniform after having waited several hours at the airport for me. Apparently there had been some miscommunication, and I felt horrible that he had waited so long for no reason! But he took it well, and just smiled! Jay, Henry (mechanic at Chitokoloki) and I then sat down to an amazing dinner that had been prepared for us. Dr McAdams also joined us, as he was on His way back to the States for a much needed break. The four of us sat and talked for a few hours, and I remember feeling exhausted but not wanting to leave the interesting conversation we had engaged in. JR, a UK midwife working fulltime at Chitokoloki, showed up later with her beautiful smile! She had just finished writing the exam to obtain her Zambian license as a midwife, and was ready to return to the mission hospital.

The next morning the four of us (Jay, Henry, JR and myself) headed back to the airport, and loaded up the four-seater mission plane ready to embark on the 2 ½ hour flight to Chitokoloki. It was a beautiful day, and we had fun conversing with each other through headsets. I could tell Jay enjoyed teaching, as he explained a lot about flying and the landmarks we were flying over. About 45 min from Chitokoloki he asked us if he could practice a mock emergency landing. We agreed, so he cut down the engine, and we descended (slower then I thought) as he went through all the proper procedures that normally would be done. We didn’t actually land in the field he had chosen, but came pretty close to it before swooping back up into the sky. We then flew pretty low to the ground. “I want to give you an idea of how far we are in the bush,” he had explained with a smile. “But let me know if you start feeling nauseous. I don’t like to keep people in agony!” I thought I was tough, but it didn’t take too long before I felt like I was going to lose my breakfast. Henry looked over at me, and I knew by his expression that I was probably as white as a ghost. However, without incident we finally arrived at the Chitokoloki Mission compound. Emma and a few other missionaries with their kids were waiting for us by the landing strip. It didn’t take me very long to figure out who Jay’s wife was- her big smile gave her away! No doubt she was excited to see him after a few days of being apart.

After being shown to the little house where I would be staying with Emma and another girl Rose, we went to Tanis’ place (the main nurse- practically doctor ;)) for lunch. Several hours later, Jay came to the house to pick up another missionary who needed transport to another mission compound a half hour flight away. Katrina, his wife, went with seeing as she hadn’t left the compound since their arrival in February.

They successfully accomplished their mission, but never made it back to the station here. Instead, God took them both home to be with Him- their final destination. The next few hours were a blur, and we still didn’t know if they had escaped the plane that had crashed into the Zambazi River. Finally our fears were confirmed. It was so painful to look into the faces of their two little girls who were both clueless as to what had happened. Where was God, and how could this happen? For a moment, feelings of resentment and confusion swelled up inside of me. But His presence could be felt, even through the dark cloud of sorrow that hung over us. Many tears were shed, but none overlooked. The Man of Sorrows is well acquainted with grief. He sees, He understands. And because of Him, death has no victory over those who are called by His name!