I’ve been thinking about sharing some of my travel experiences when my daughter and I went on a missions trip to Guatemala a month ago, and how we just saw the hand of God in our circumstances over and over again. And we know people were praying for us.

First, we made it safely to the Syracuse airport in plenty of time. We were leaving our vehicle in the open lot parking for the week, so trucked ourselves and our luggage quite a distance to get to the airport, then through security and to our gate to wait for our first flight.

The airplane travel overall went as well as could be expected, and though we had a few instances of turbulence on some of our flights, the take-offs and landings could not have gone better. This was especially something we noted when taking off and landing in Guatemala City, which is surrounded by mountains.

One of our first major issues was to make our connecting flight at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., where we had a long way to go between our arrival and departing gate within less than an hour (which can go very fast!). We were grateful to make it to our gate and met up with the other 3 we were traveling with, just in time to board. We flew overnight arriving in Guatemala in the early morning hours, where 2 men from Casa Aleluya came to pick us up at the airport and deliver us to our home for the week. They also returned us to the airport when our stay was over.

Some of our bigger concerns besides safety in the actual travel part was having to go in and out of security, border patrol, and customs several times, and how to handle all of that. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. We were not questioned at ALL…. like never. They just checked our passports and we were free to go in or out of the border with no complications whatsoever. This was my daughter’s 5th time doing this trip, and she said it has NEVER gone like this! And no issues with airport security. I was patted down a few times and the whole process is rather intimidating, but they were very professional and kind and it really did not hold us up at all.

One event that we have been thinking more of as we got home safely was our boarding in Guatemala around midnight to return home. We were heading to Dulles once again on an overnight flight. We do not know if there was more to it or not, but ahead of us were maybe 4-5 men traveling together, who would fit certain profiles if we were thinking that way. They were maybe in their 30s? Something about their demeanor made me uncomfortable as we lined up to board and I was observing them ahead of us in line. As we were going through the hallway entrance for departure, the agent there very seriously asked both my daughter and I separately if anyone had touched our luggage, or if it had been unattended at any time. (If you are ever in an airport you will hear those announcements many times, not to leave your luggage unattended, etc.). We answered no, and were let into the hallway where they allowed us both to continue to the aircraft as we were traveling together. However, the men aforementioned were stopped just inside the hallway at another security station, and were being completely inspected, fingerprints and baggage checked, etc. Now I really was feeling a bit uneasy! On the plane I knew there really wasn’t anything I was going to do about it, so just committed the flight to the Lord and asked His protection over all of us, and that if anyone was up to no good, that He would stop them. Then we relaxed and dozed our way to D.C. On arrival, the whole flight was put on a shuttle to go through customs. Those men were not there. They were not even on the flight. So we do not know if there was actually a problem but we know we arrived safely and that God kept us in His care.

This is about half the story of our travel adventure, so I will just put a “to be continued” at this point and will share more on another blog post. Not everything continued to go quite this well….. =)¹

Psalm 91:11 (KJV)– “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”