Traveling to and from South Africa so many times in the past 5 years of my life, I have learned that you should always have a lock on your luggage or shrink wrap it to ensure all the items you placed inside will still be there when you receive your luggage back. Each year before I travel over to Africa, my Dad graciously helps me set up a shrink wrap line and we get all the bags waterproof (for traveling into the bush in rainy season) and secured for transit through South Africa. After hours of packing, re-packing, adding things last minute, and weighing all the bags, you can imagine the last thing we wanted to do was shrink wrap them all. About an hour later, we had all 4 bags wrapped and ready to go…
I check my bags in at Dulles Airport and get on my way to Dubai…the first stop in my journey to Zambia. After sitting in Dubai Airport for about 6 hours, I get on my next flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. After 33 hours of already traveling, I arrive around 9:00pm in Jo-burg. To my surprise all, but one of my suitcases has been ripped open and the shrink wrap torn off, some of the zippers were not closed all the way, and the buckles were not locked at all. I just about lost it…haha (I can laugh about it now). At first I was furious with Emirates, thinking they were the ones to blame for going through my luggage in Dubai. However, once I got back to my lodge and opened them up, I found notes from TSA all through the luggage!! To make matters worse, all that work and effort to protect these school supplies from water damage and theft was ruined 30 minutes after I dropped my luggage at the airport…before I even left America. I was not happy!!
A friend of mine once told me when things go awry not worry since “God’s Got It”! So being worn out and tired, I just took a nice hot shower and climbed into bed that night, leaving it in God’s hands for the time being!
The next day I resolved to pay $10 per bag to get them shrink wrapped again in SA to protect them from the rain with the 2.5+ hour drive into the bush. I had a peace in my heart, even though I was still unhappy with how TSA handled everything. I am now checking in for my flight to Zambia knowing that I have to pay for two extra bags and one that will be overweight…very nervous about what the total will come to! I tell the guy behind the counter that I tried to pay online, but for some reason the systems were down and I couldn’t do it. Well he told me I can try to tell customer service that, but he is not sure they can give me the online fare. After I give him my first two bags, the next one was overweight…I told him that all these bag were supplies for a school in the villages of Zambia!! He called his supervisor and they agreed that they wouldn’t charge me for the overweight bag, just the two extra bags I had!! What a relief and blessing!! Customer service could not grant me online fare for extra luggage since there was no proof that I tried to pay online, but they also didn’t charge me for the third bag being overweight!!!
I also forgot to mention that once I got everything out of the suitcases, it doesn’t seem like anything was missing. Even with no shrink wrap, zippers opens, buckles undone, and no locks sitting in Dubai for 7 hours and then getting off loaded in SA…God protected those supplies.
I think it is comical that as much as I see God working out here in the villages, knowing how He physically protects people everyday, heals them, provides food for them, rain for their crops, and many other things they wouldn't have otherwise; I forget and think that it is up to me to keep things together for His ministry. How silly I was to get flustered and upset at TSA, when God’ Got It and I don’t need to worry about the things that don’t go the way I had hoped! Everything turned out fine and God even gave extra undeserved blessings…how great He is!!
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
Joshua 1:9
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