Well, what a week we've had, during our first days together as an LDC group! As volcanic ash continued to cause airport closures in Europe and flight cancellations around the world, only eleven of our delegates (less than half of the class) were able to arrive in time for the start of the course. As the week went on, I felt as if I was constantly sending and receiving emails.... as people got in touch to let us know when their flights had been rescheduled, re-cancelled and rescheduled yet again.We had several creative times of prayer during the week, as we trusted God to make a way for those who had not yet been able to join us. He spoke to us about opening "corridors" for them, and we expressed our faith in this word by praying with enthusiasm and with many symbolic actions. For example, one day we all lined up and formed a corridor - with gaps in the line-up representing those who were stranded in airports around the world. We wrote the names of the missing people on pieces of card and put them outside; then, as we prayed for them by name, we carried those pieces of card along the corridor and right into our midst. Someone made a video clip of what we were praying and doing, and we emailed that to our missing delegates, together with some of the Bible verses and other impressions we had received from God when we prayed. Later, several of the delegates emailed back to say that these words and the movie clip had really helped to boost their faith.
One lady said that she had almost given up hope of being able to get to Spain for the course, and then she watched the video and saw her name being carried into the room and cheered on by those who were praying. It encouraged her not to give up or lose faith, but to keep pressing in and trusting for the "corridor" to open up. In fact, she and another delegate were able to fly out of Copenhagen airport when it opened up for just s twelve hour window the next day.
Seven others arrived in Malaga within twenty four hours of that prayer time, and all of them had their own encouraging stories and testimonies to share. A further nine people arrived on Saturday and Sunday, and our group is almost complete now. The family from Tajikistan saw God's provision when a taxi driver refused to take their money for driving them to the airport, and then they and their children were among the only seven people that the airline put up in a hotel for a day and a half. The three coming from Canada were originally re-scheduled to arrive only today, but felt that they should call the airline again, and ended up travelling three days earlier. A lady from Romania arrived at two o'clock in the morning, after travelling three days and two nights on a bus. Another passenger was making the long bus trip in order to see his girlfriend in Spain.... so our delegate was encouraged by the thought that she was making this gruelling trip because of her love for Jesus.
So we had many trips to and from the airport this week, and much rejoicing every time someone new arrived to join us. The Indian family are now the only ones who haven't managed to get here yet... and they're being told that they might not get flights until next weekend. We're praying for wisdom as to the best way forward in this situation.
Two other arrivals this week were picked up not from the airport, but from the shipping port. My parents are on a cruise ship at the moment and their first port of call last week was here in Malaga. I was able to pick them up from the harbour and bring them to Alhaurin for a few hours, so that they could meet some of the staff and delegates from the LDC and see the new house I moved into a few weeks ago.
As we move into a new week of LDC, we're looking more closely at the different processes God uses to develop Christian leaders throughout their lifetime. Challenges in life are one of the things that help us to grow, and the unexpected volcano situation has given us a very recent example of how God's faithfulness can be experienced even in difficult circumstances. Thanks once again for your prayers.
