It is amazing how God works in our times of need. Jennifer and I were reminded of this recently as we checked into our hotel in Orlando Florida for our New Staff Training with FamilyLife.
Our trip to Orlando started off well. We got to the airport on time, our luggage checked in and we passed through security. However, when we got to the gate we found that our flight was delayed. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal but we were already flying late in the day and we were going to be rushed to get to the hotel for a good night sleep before our training early the next morning. Thankfully, we had an uneventful flight but as soon as the plane landed and we turned our cell phones on, calls and text messages came flooding in. “The church is on fire!” What? Surely it had to be a joke...but no...lightning had struck our church and it was on fire.
Our minds were reeling as we tried to gather our bags and get to the shuttle that was to take us to our hotel. It was a long shuttle ride, but we finally got to the hotel, or so we thought. We drudged to the front desk only to discover that they did not have our reservations. We were at the DoubleTree Hotel but there were two DoubleTree Hotels in Orlando and we were taken to the wrong one. We contacted the shuttle company and they informed us that they would send us a taxi in 15-30 minutes. Two minutes later a bellhop announced that a taxi was outside for the "Velker’s", and then the taxi left. After 30 minutes of waiting we realized that we must be the "Velkers". As the shuttle company started the process of dispatching yet another taxi, Jennifer sat on the couch in the lobby and prayed. "God, please send us encouragement and send it to us in the taxi driver that is coming for us."
When our taxi arrived, God prompted Jennifer to strike up a conversation with him. He informed us that he was from Haiti, he was there during the earthquake and said, "By the Grace of God I am alive". When we told him that we were in Orlando for missionary training with Campus Crusade for Christ, he paused and said "You are here for CHRIST?". It was like a fire was lit inside of him. He started sharing stories of hope and transformation that are coming out of Haiti. People who were far from Christ and practicing Voodoo were surrendering their lives to Jesus. We arrived at our hotel, and Jennifer told him that we were glad we had a chance to share with him about our Lord. He said, "I just love talking about Jesus!" Wow, shouldn't we all have that attitude!
The next morning we woke up thinking, we are so blessed! Even though our flight was delayed, our church caught on fire, we were taken to the wrong hotel and we missed our taxi, we have so many reasons to praise God. Our driver experienced horrific devastation and loss but he only spoke about hope and joy because of Jesus. God showed up in the taxi driver from Haiti!
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