By: Obed Pineda
“Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation. ”Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2-3).
Doors Knocked: 1,225. Contacts Made: 1,175. Bible Studies Conducted: 139. Baptisms: 11. These were the final numbers that were presented to all of us during dinner on our final night in Peru, having already left Arequipa the night prior. Those of us who had traveled from the States would be returning home on the following day. Needless to say, that when I look back again at these stats, a sense of joy laced with accomplishment fills my mind’s eye. Not only am I grateful that I was a part of this tremendous effort to bring the Gospel to that region of South America, but I am bemused as well when I realize what twelve, five-man teams were able to bring about in just four days in Peru’s second largest city. It proves to me, yet again, the great lengths that diligence and desire can attain when combined with one another. Furthermore, it also firmly verifies Jonathan’s assurance to his young armor bearer that “the LORD will work for us…for nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few” (1st Samuel 14:6). Time and time again the Almighty demonstrated to His faithful servants that true power lies within Him, and not in us (cf. 1st Corinthians 1:26-31, 2nd Corinthians 4:7). Without question, when we heard the final numbers of what our zealous efforts attained, the room was filled with great joy and excitement for being allowed the blessing to work side by side with one another and the great Creator (cf. 1st Corinthians 3:6-9). The sketch of what our labor of love looked like invigorated many of us with so much energy that we jubilantly continued to share experiences, favorite memories, and valuable lessons we gained during this campaign very late into the night, as the dawn of our departure arrived. Meanwhile, the world continued to struggle with a global glitch in the airport systems that had already affected my travel once before by changing my itinerary to a much earlier flight from Arequipa to Lima. Regrettably, we would once again feel the sting of this global catastrophe as our director informed us that we were now required to arrive to the airport three hours early if we wanted to make our flights home on time. Little did we know that arriving to the airport three hours early would simply extend our time at the airport since our flights departed later than scheduled, due to the ongoing problem. I can honestly say that our journey back home transformed into an odyssey as thing after thing went wrong for us. It was as if the two previous nights of pure joy were the proverbial calm before the storm. Verily, I can attest that our patience and endurance were fiercely contested by all of the mishaps that unfolded during our last leg of our mission trip, especially for the four of us (i.e. my sister, future sister-in-law, fiancé, and I). Not only were our flights delayed several times, but when we arrived to the airport in Atlanta, we arrived to a hostile environment created by the madness of the unresolved issue plaguing airports worldwide. The insanely long lines were filled with travelers irritated by the situation that only added more unnecessary stress to the already stressful experience of traveling. All of the airline employees were ill equipped to handle the situation promptly due to the very limited information at their disposal. Thus, this added fuel to the simmering anger of many travelers because a plethora of their questions were left unanswered, amplifying the level of their anxiety. The intensity of the tension building up at the airport undoubtedly spilled over to us four, when we discovered that not only was our flight home canceled (with absolutely no other flight replacing it), but the hotel room Bethany had booked for us way in advance was also canceled without any prior notification or explanation as to why this happened. There were no available rooms at any of the hotels in the surrounding areas, taxis and Uber drivers were not being allowed to pick anyone up at the airport, and all car rental places had run out of vehicles to rent for that evening. In short, we were stranded at the Atlanta Airport for the night, without any clear path back home. We were tired, hungry (because we had only eaten the lunch provided on the flight from Peru to the US earlier in the day), and uncertain of what to do next because all of the options we had originally tried had come up short. The four of us had agreed that since there was nothing else, we could do that night, we would just try and get some rest at the airport and attempt to find a solution in the morning. At least that was our plan until the airport made it very clear that they did not want anyone sleeping on their premises. Airport alarms went off consistently, airport security would continuously wake us up claiming that the corner we were huddle at needed to be left clear for safety reasons, and a myriad of other occurrences that happened did not allow us to get enough proper sleep the entire night. Inevitably this mounted our frustration with the entire ordeal, but it was the constant reminder of what we had just experienced, together as missionaries, that assisted us in tempering our resolve as best as we could, considering the situation. This final test of sorts taught us the extraordinary gift of remaining focused on Christ when we feel like the circumstances of life are overwhelming and drowning us (cf. Matthew 14:22-33, Hebrews 12:1-2). It behooves me to mention that the presence of our new friends and brethren who chose to stay with us while they waited for their family members to pick them up also provided much comfort and encouragement for us in those moments. Thus, in addition to leaning on Christ, we experienced firsthand the blessing of leaning on one another as members of the Lord’s body (cf. Romans 12:9-16). Personally, it was Bethany’s undeterred diligence in finding a solution to our conundrum that granted me a better understanding of true persistence, reliant upon God (cf. Luke 11:9-10). In the end, it was her resilience that landed us a rental car the moment it became available that brought us home. When it was all said and done, as the four of us drove back home, the entire ride back home we laughed and rejoiced at the blessing of having been a part of an amazing journey, together as a family. Not only did we have the fortune to work in the business of our Lord, but doing so taught us more about one another tightening the bonds of friendship and love between the four of us. Our blessed Father granted us the privilege to pull from the deep wells of His salvation, drawing forth great joy that can only be found in Him and in His service. It was this beautiful realization about this adventure, that prompted me to share these lessons I learned from Arequipa, with the hope that it will motivate you to draw water deep from the precious wells of our God’s salvation. Fin.