Travel Mercies

God has been especially gracious to us this week throughout our travels. I've just posted a photo of some of the elephants we saw at Nazinga Game Ranch in Burkina Faso. That day was by far the most spectacular of our travels. But beyond the spectacular, we were reminded many times of God's continual presence with us.

First, thanks to those who prayed for us. We were also praying, and God did keep us safe over 3,000 kilometers of driving.

It's amazing all the people you run into on such a trip. In northern Ghana, we were stopped by the gendarmes (sort of like the National Guard in the States). It was a routine stop and nothing surprising. Suddenly, a white man roared up on his motorcycle. It took me a minute to see past the helmet, but I recognized him as John Crocker, a Southern Baptist missionary who happens to be from Huntsville, Alabama, the same town as my friend/guest, Alan Henderson.

While visiting at the American Rec Center in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, we ran into a Filipino missionary family who we had met in the Paris airport over three years ago. We also met Clark Lungren, founder of Nazinga Game Ranch. Yesterday, when driving over 700 kms from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to Kumasi, Ghana, we met up with Papa Christian Nsoah and his wife Lizzie at a toll booth in northern Ghana. Papa Christian stood in for Maureen's father at our wedding and he and Sister Lizzie are very dear to us. All of these were just reminders of how God orchestrates so many things in our lives of which we are unaware.

I also found this travelling experience rather humbling. Often I think that, after twelve years in Africa, I am beyond culture shock. But the past couple of days have been particularly stressful for me in dealing with peoplehere in Ghana. Perhaps it is the fatigue from doing all the driving, but I am surprised that things can still get to me like the used to. Maybe it's just God's reminder that I have to continue to adjust, and especially to remain humble and patient in dealing with people.