Flight of the Apprentice
On Tuesday morning, we headed to the airport at 3:30 a.m. This is quite common for passengers on international flights. On many occasions, I’ve enjoyed watching the first rays of sunshine rest on the lush vineyards during the one-hour return drive home. Of course, I’m doped-up on multiple cappuccinos to keep me blistering alert.
It was the conclusion of the 3rd summer that brother Andrew Maxwell served with the Serenissima. Each year, we give him a tremendous tour package of being able to stay with our family (affectionately named “Post-Eden”), a monster painting project or two, and a big gulp of Italian bureaucracy and prices. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?
A Divine Appointment
While checking Andrew in at 5:30 a.m. I looked over and saw somebody I recognized but had never met. With boldness mixed with caffeine, I walked up to the man in the other line and asked, “Are you Frank?” My thought was, “Hey, if the guy says ‘no’ — it’s not a big deal b/c it’s 5:30 a.m. and everybody’s sleep-walking.” Sure enough, the guy says, “Yes, who are you?” I remembered the answer to that question, recalled it, and told him. It was Pastor Frank King who has been a missionary in the Venice area for 31 years.
Brother Frank was dropping off his intern on the same flight. While catching up with Frank, I got another tap on the shoulder and it was Pastor Steve Gray from Padova. Steve has been in Padova for 20 years. He was also dropping off their summer interns for the early flights. It was a wonderful encouragement to me. These guys are heroes on the front lines to me. I’ve been at mission-pastoring now for 9 years and felt like a “green-pea rookie” around these fellows.
We shared our ministries and the glory of God for an hour together (with another round of cappuccinos) and then I got to share some blessings and gifts with them.
Here’s a treasure I took away from it all. It was a taste of Heaven to meet up with these men spontaneously. We all battle the overwhelming difficulty & Romanism in this land. And it takes a rugged, gut-wrenching endurance to just stick with it. I think that those who persevere and long-suffer for the Faith will find a deeper sweetness, significance, and joy when they arrive in Heaven. You won’t find these folks surprised to have made it there. Heaven is made for the celebration of the saints.
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Great blogs Brother. It is great to see the Lord encouraging His children at the most unexpected moments. Grace and shalom i2i
Comment by Roberto — 8/19/2005 @ 4:22 pm