Back to Vietnam 2016 - A Daily Journal

And so once again, I am beginning a journey... A physical journey to be sure as I prepare to board a plane for the seemingly endless flight to Vietnam... A mental journey as I contemplate the wonders of a different country and climate, the different peoples and cultures, the different foods and aromas, and the different traveling companions I know I will encounter along the way... And a spiritual journey as I witness firsthand the amazing diversity and power of God to be found in the willingness of my fellow travelers and the enthusiasm of the Vietnamese pastors we will be traveling with, and the village churches and congregations we will be visiting...


In the picture above, it is Tuesday morning March 29th... It is approximately 5:30 am as I await the arrival of my fellow travelers.  I am seated in a waiting area at the Columbus, Ohio international airport, preparing to begin the boarding process.  On this trip I will join ten others from various southern districts of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church.  Most of the group I know, having traveled to Vietnam with them before.  A couple of them are new to me, but we quickly become friends as together we contemplate the journey before us.


Our journey today will entail a two hour flight from Columbus to Dallas-Ft. Worth.  After a short layover there, we will endure a 13 1/2 hour flight to Tokyo, Japan.  Another couple hours there, then a final six hour flight to Hanoi, Vietnam.  Altogether, we anticipate about 30 hours of airports and airplane time!  At least, that was the plan... but you know that God sometimes has other plans for us!


After we gather and pray for God's guidance and traveling mercies, we board our plan scheduled for a 7:30 am takeoff.  However, an unexpected announcement informs us that the pilots are having difficulty starting one of the engines!  Hearing that sure fills one's heart with confidence!  But after about a half an hour, the plane is started and we are in the air... just a half hour behind schedule...


We arrive Dallas-Ft. Worth airport where we have a layover.  We find our next gate and sit to await the arrival of our next plane, a Japan Airlines flight to Tokyo... However, after sitting and waiting at our gate for some time, our scheduled time for departure comes and goes, and our plane does not arrive!  When asked what happened, the airport staff informs us that they cannot find our plane!  After about an hour and a half, an American Airlines plane pulls up to our gate and we begin boarding.  We finally take off, but we are now an hour and a half behind schedule.



Thirteen and a half hours to Tokyo... at least we are finally on our way.  As I glance around the cabin, I see our group busily engaged in reading, watching movies, or trying to nap... At least until we arrive somewhere over the Rocky Mountains... As the stewardesses are passing out drinks to the passengers, our plane hits an unexpected area of severe turbulence!  It just so happened that I had just been given a glass of Coca-Cola when the plane decided to leap up, the drop down.  Needless to say, I ended up wearing my coke!  On a more serious note, one of the stewardesses was injured, having hit her head in the turbulence.  After an announcement asking if there was a doctor on board, another announcement followed stating that we would be making an unscheduled stop in Seattle to drop off our injured stewardess.  Land we did sometime later, which took an additional hour to off load the injured and top off fuel tanks.  We are now two and a half hours behind schedule.


Finally, back in the air.  It is still nine hours to Tokyo.  The flight from this point is pretty much uneventful.  We fly quietly and smoothly (Thank you, Lord!) across the northern Pacific Ocean, somewhere along the way crossing the international dateline...


We arrive in Tokyo around 7:00 pm local time.  However, we arrive to find out our connecting flight to Hanoi left about a half hour ago!  A representative from Japan Air Lines informs us the next flight to Hanoi is scheduled for tomorrow morning!  So they put us up in a hotel there at the airport, with no cost to us.  Check out this picture of my Japanese toilet in my hotel room!  I call it the new and improved Ipot!  It has more buttons and icons than my IPhone!

 





And that, my friends was just my first day!  Adventure awaits... the Promises of God are before us as we trust in Him during this mission time.  Watch for my next blog to be posted in the next couple days... Next stop... Hanoi!!!