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| Aren't these faces and smiles BEAUTIFUL? |
The
weeks leading up to my return to Zambia felt so different from those I
experienced last summer when I was headed to Chipata for the first time. My anticipation and excitement was doubled,
and I just couldn’t wait to return and become reacquainted with familiar
faces. The trip I had planned last July
was mostly ministry based – working at the rural health clinic and teaching
ladies bible studies. This excursion to
Zambia would be lickety-split quick (I’d only be in the country for seven
days), and my purpose was very different.
That will become evident as the journey unfolds. I don’t want to give away too much, so I hope you’ll keep reading along. My prayer is that you will smile, laugh, shake
your head in astonishment, shed a few tears, and ultimately say “God is
incredible” as you experience Zambia through my eyes.
DAYS 1 and 2: Ben & Eddie
I love Jacksonville International Airport. It’s small, the flight schedules are really
accommodating, and the airport is fairly quiet for 6 AM red-eye flights heading
to New York’s JFK. My first blessing
came at airport check-in when I wasn’t charged the customary $100 for traveling
with an extra checked bag. The suitcase
was filled with baby layette items for Chinunda Rural Health Clinic and a few
missionary gift requests that I was bringing for the Jalowiec, Pestkes and
Tsoukalas families. I was glad to have a window seat and 2 empty
seats next to me. I prayed that the
trend would continue on my transcontinental flight to South Africa. The first leg of the trip was uneventful, and
I arrived in New York with time to spare.
I took my seat for the 15-16 hour flight to South Africa and
watched the passengers walk past me one by one.
No one was stopping on my row. I
was so excited. Not only did I have an aisle seat, but there were two empty
seats next to me again. Then, it
happened. A family with two small
children situated themselves into the seats directly behind mine. I thought the mom and dad had a young son and
daughter. I would find out later that
the youngest was actually a boy (the long hair and gorgeous eyelashes caused me
to think otherwise). I must admit,
these were beautiful children to look at, but every time the youngest opened
his mouth, something whiny and disrespectful came forth. I had flashbacks of the movie Willy Wonka and
the Chocolate Factory and the bratty girl named Veruka Salt. This little child had the same whiny accent
and the same similar complaints: “Daddy,
I don’t want to sit down.” “Daddy, I
don’t want the plane to take off. Daddy,
why does Ben (the brother) have more than me?
Why is this game so hard? No,
Daddy. I don’t want to watch that
movie. Daddy, I want my iPad NOOOWWW!”
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| Bratty Veruka Salt |
Good grief! How long
would the annoyance last? The answer was
twelve hours. The poor father was at
his wits end with his kids, but his wife had ‘checked out’ completely. I don’t know if she took sleeping pills,
vallum, had a shot of whiskey from the flight attendant cart, or some other
remedy to calm frayed nerves, but this woman slept through the entire flight
and left her husband to tend to the kid’s needs. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t
find satisfaction in anything the father had to offer. About 9 hours into the flight we hit a patch
of air turbulence, and that’s when things took a quick downward turn.
It was the middle of the night, and the airplane lights had
been dimmed. Most everyone was sleeping
with the exception of the passengers across the aisle from this troublesome
family, the ladies across the aisle from my seat, and me. I stood up for a moment to get something from
my carry-on in the overhead bin. I could
see the stir-crazy blank stares of my fellow passengers. Secretly, we were probably all praying that
Ben and Eddie would quiet down and go to sleep.
The father was becoming so frustrated with the kids. They didn’t want to sit down. Eddie, the youngest (probably about 5 or 6)
kept getting up and down going to the bathroom.
Each time he got up, he’d kick the back of my seat or the father would
grab the back of my seat in order to steady himself. Once Eddie finally sat down, he didn’t want
to put on the seat belt (remember the turbulence). He wanted to sleep on the floor, but that is
strictly prohibited by South African Airways.
When the dad told Eddie he couldn’t sleep on the floor, Eddie had
another temper tantrum and started kicking the back of my seat again. Once the conversation turned to violence and
the language became more vulgar (the dad was threatening the kids within an
inch of their lives), one of the male flight attendants intervened and
confronted the dad. I didn’t hear
everything that was said because I chose that moment to push my ear plugs deep
inside my ear drums, grab a pillow and neck rest, and cover myself with a complimentary
blanket. I was determined to try and get
some sleep. For the first time in my
life, I actually thanked the Lord for the air turbulence. The sporadic, herky-jerky, up and down motion
of the plane seemed to balance out Eddie’s non-stop seat kicking.
The flight was scheduled to land at 6am. So, at about 4:30 am the flight crew turned
up the airplane lights to begin the breakfast service. The airplane came alive with passengers
stirring, but there were no sounds of little voices behind me. I was shocked! Ben and Eddie were fast asleep. Their mom had woken up from a refreshing
night’s sleep and was engaged in happy conversation with her husband. Once the plane landed everyone stood up to
stretch their legs and begin removing carry-on luggage from the overhead. I just couldn’t bring myself to look at the
dad in the eye. I was so annoyed, but he
was all smiles. The boys were still
sleeping, and much to my chagrin, they looked angelic. A passenger in the row behind the family initiated
a brief conversation with the dad while we were waiting to deplane:
Passenger: “So what time did they finally get off to sleep.”
Dad: “About 3a.m.”
Passenger: “They
really were VERY GOOD.”
Dad: “Yes. They had their moments, but they weren’t too
bad.”
I almost choked on my own saliva! I had to turn my back so that no one saw the
grimace and look of disbelief on my face. I purposed in my heart right then to pray for
Ben and Eddie whenever the Lord brought them to mind. Who knows?
They may both end up as the next president and vice president of South
Africa. ☺
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