God is so good. Flying standby can be quite stressful but it presents God numerous opportunities to prove himself faithful. I had no idea how much I would be trusting God yesterday when I woke up at 4:00am to leave the country, All of the flights from Tulsa to Dallas were booked, which shattered my plan. Me and my fellow team member, Gary Jackson, made a last second decision to hop on the flight to Chicago instead. We arrived in the world’s largest airport only 20 minutes before the next flight left for Miami. When I arrived at our gate, I received news that I was taken off the standby list for some unknown reason. This meant I was put at the end of the list now. The lady at the counter told me, "You won't be getting a flight out of Chicago any time soon". I started praying. There are 5 seats available on the flight and I am number 6 on the standby list. The list on the screen slowly starts filing down. One name at a time is removed as their names are being called on the intercom. When only three names remain, the screen goes blank. After a long silent pause the intercom interrupts the boisterous Chicago crowd with, "Jackson and Cliff can now board". Praise God. We get the last two seats available on the entire flight. For whatever reason, one person in front of me did not show up to claim their seat. The same story happens in Miami going to Bolivia. And we end up getting first class for our nine hour flight. God is always faithful. There is nothing more rewarding that living perfectly in God's will.
My heart breaks for Bolivia. They are in such great need of help in every way possible. From the minute I stepped off my plane, my heart grew. We got in past one in the morning today, so our goal was to just sleep as soon as possible. When we woke up, Misael has prepared a great breakfast for us. Eggs, ham, cheese, fresh bread, and papayas. After our delicious breakfast, we headed out to the facility that we will be using for our clinic this week. We spent four hours cleaning and disinfecting the place. Driving and walking through Santa Cruz is heart wrenching. We've all seen photos of poverty and we've all heard stories of the living conditions of third world countries. But when you actually walk down a dirt road, stepping over rotting trash while you see children and women dig through garbage for food, something resonates so deeply in your heart. Seeing deathly skinny horses and dogs roaming alley ways seriously messes with your paradigm in which you view "life". There is more to life than living in our AC generated homes, having two car garages, and having massive television sets. We live above and beyond anything these people could hope for, yet we complain about everything... I'm already growing in my area of complaining. I've worn the same underwear and haven't had a shower in 52 hours. Yes, seriously. But you won't hear a complaint out of me. The heart of someone who is fully dependent on God for survival is a beautiful thing. How can you become more dependent on God today? Go it!
"Diarrhea is genetic here in Bolivia. It runs in your 'jeans'"
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