Day One Adventure

Hello Canada!!!


Sheena here, I have been chosen to make our first blog entry (for reasons you will soon read about!)


We are safe and sound in Lima and waiting for our delayed flight to Trujillo. For the most part the trip was fairly uneventful. And when I say "for the most part" what I mean is that for all of the other 18 team members security checks, boarding passes, checking in and out of flights all went very very smoothly.


I however had a very different experience in getting to Lima today! It all started fine, we got through customs at the Detroit-Windsor border and were at the airport by noonish. We got everyone checked in and then we started checking in our leaders. When it was my turn the lady at the desk realized that my ticket had been booked in my married name (McKay) and my passport was still in my maiden name (Stevens). I had checked this over with Delta 2 nights ago and had called the Canadian Passport agency to verify that this was ok for international flights. Both had advised that I carry my birth certificate with me and that as long as I had other documentation showing I was Sheena McKay I would be fine to travel. The Delta lady however said that I needed the ORIGINAL copy of my marriage certificate. This of course was not one of the thousands of documents I had carried with me. So while everyone else checked in we made a frantic call to our saving grace Lynne Stenlund and she made a very crucial, and life saving trip first to our apartment to pick up our marriage license and then over the border to the Detroit airport with a 2 hour time limit in order for me to make that flight. It came down to the point that Ray and Phil, who had stayed behind to wait for me, had to leave me in the line-up waiting for my marriage license and run to their plane that was being held specifically for them.


God knew long before I got to the airport that I wouldn't be on the same flight as the rest of the team, I know this because 2 people from our team (Estaban and Chris) had been booked on a later flight to connect with the over sea flight to Lima. So for the next 4.5 hours Chris and I worked at trying to switch my flight so I could fly with the other 2. Lynne arrived with the license within 2 hours of us calling her and we thought that was the end of our worries.


The night before we left I had prayed for God to bring me to my knees on this trip. I have known for a long time that He wants more from me, and so I prayed for His will and left our apartment on Friday morning awaiting His response in Peru (Little did I know He wanted to humble me long before I even got on a plane).


In the proceeding 3 hours I was brought to my knees. Our original response from Delta was that I would have to pay $2681 to switch my flights. We made a call to Ray who was now in Cincinatti safe and sound with the rest of the team and got the ok to go ahead with this "administration" fee. We then went back to the desk to tell them we were willing to pay for the switch and were met with the shock of our life. They tried to pull up the booking they had quoted and it was gone, we were told that there was nothing they could do to connect me with the rest of the team. We spent what seemed like hours begging and pleading with them, explaining what we were doing in Peru and how crucial it was that I make that flight. They still said there was nothing they could do.


We stepped away from the desk, called Ray to update him and in tears (well it was just me crying on this end of the flight) we prayed. We prayed for His will and I remember specifically praying "OK God, I get it, I am on my knees and I understand that you can stop me from being on this trip". Humbled and broken Chris and I went back to the desk and made one more plea for their help.


The lady at the desk was on another call and for 15 mins Chris and I listened to one side of a conversation that seemed to have changed in tone. She took our credit card, charged us $200 and printed my tickets to get me on the same flight as Estaban and Chris and to connect us with the rest of the team in Atlanta. By this time we had 50 mins to get through security, and to our terminal so I jumped over the counter hugged the Delta lady (Lisa B) and we RAN to our security check point.


I made the joyouse call to Ray to advise him of God's handywork. The tears of relief started on Ray's end of the phone as he had just finished praying as well.

Chris, Estaban and I were barely fazed when we got to our terminal and saw that our flight to Atlanta (where the rest of the team was waiting) was delayed another 2 hours. At this point we were just relieved to have a flight itinerary for me, and well, we knew that God hadn't brought us this far to stop us in Detroit.

All this being said, the 3 of us were reunited with the team 1 hour before we left for Lima and never before have I been so relieved to see my husband (Phil) and the familiar faces of the rest of the team.

I knew that Satan would be working against us on this project, we are afterall doing everything he hates, and that is showing the love of God through servanthood. I had never considered that God may put a stop to this trip for me though. We have been constantly reminded leading up to this trip that we need to have our hearts in the right place to allow God to work through us. And I have allowed the business of life, work, pregnancy, and even just Peru prep to interfere in my spiritual preparation to serve in Trujillo this week. In the last 24 hours God has taught me that he truly wants the humble to do His will. And I can safely say that I am there.

So there it is, my Day one adventure of getting us to Peru.

The team has been doing so well, and we have had little to no resistance with getting anyone through the whole aiport process.

Because our flight to Trujillo has been delayed 8 hours we are practicing the art of "airport sleeping"

In the next 2 hours we will be on a plane to Trujillo to meet up with the Alliance missionaries on the ground.

Your continued prayer is appreciated and necessary.

A couple quick shout outs

1 Mom I am ALIVE!!
2 Happy Birthday Trina (Ray misses you and loves you!)
3 Kelly ann - something about trees

And we're out until tomorrow

Sheena on behalf of the Peru 2008 team