Bovine

As a kid I can remember learning the word bovine as a synonym for cow. My grandmother used it in a word game we were playing, and it stuck with me. It isn't a word that I use in normal everyday conversation, but at least I know what it means if I ever need to pull it out of my bag of tricks. Today, I am delving into my bag of tricks. Let me explain why with a story.

On Monday evening while driving back from the airport, we picked up three FMS engineers (which is what they call mechanics in Botswana) who were hitch hiking their way home. Hitch hiking is a common practice here, and the sides of the road can be lined with people either waiting for a combi, which is a little van that drives a route much like a bus would do in the states, or trying to catch a ride from passing vehicles. Instead of a thumbs up signal here, hitch hikers hold their hand out in one of three positions - pointing down, to indicate that they aren't traveling far, only a few blocks perhaps; pointing straight out, to indicate that they are trying to get a medium distance; or pointing up, which means they are going a pretty good ways. So, we picked up these three FMS guys, and they all piled into the back seat, grateful for a ride. As we drove along, the guy I was riding with (who is also the guy who is letting me stay in his house - another pilot waiting on government approval to start flying) was asking the engineers about themselves and trying to get to know them a little bit outside of the work environment. One of the questions he asked was whether or not any of them were married. None of them were. Going into more detail, they began to explain the Botswana custom of paying a bride price to the family of the woman you are going to marry. The price required in exchange for the family's permission to marry their daughter is paid in cows. They told us that the number of cows varies based on the part of the country where the woman lives. Anywhere from 4-10 cows can be demanded of the husband-to-be as the bride price. These men could not afford the cows necessary to purchase a bride or pay the expenses of a wedding and the parties that must customarily accompany it. It was a very practical reason for being bachelors but one that seems foreign to the American mindset of the twenty-first century. 

It is an interesting custom, this paying of a bride price with bovines (now do you see where my post title came from?). It got me thinking about the bride price that Christ paid for His bride. Psalms 50:10 says, "For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills" yet cows weren't the price that was paid for our redemption. To purchase our lives from the sin into which we were born God sent His own Son. We are His bride, and Jesus was the bride price. How humbling to realize that we were bought at a price, and that price was the sacrifice of a life and the shedding of blood. We are more valuable than any number of cows, and God proved that. So anytime Satan tries to lie to you and convince you that you are worthless, just remember and remind him that you were worth the cost of Jesus suffering and dying on your behalf. Remember that by His stripes we are healed. Remember that He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. Give your life to Jesus because He gave His life for you!

"For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s." (I Corinthians 6:20 NKJV)

This is Africa

Nearly everyone knows what it means to have a deja vu moment, where it feels as if you are repeating a moment in time from the past by being in the same place or having the same experience that you did previously. Well today I experienced a different phenomenon that I'm going to call a surreal moment. 

It was around noon on a warm, sunny day. My mission was to drive from the house where I was staying to the Flying Mission Services hangar at the Gaborone airport. It was my first solo mission navigating around the capital city of Botswana, and without the map in the front console, it might have been a failure. However, armed with a map and my own memory, I climbed into the right seat of the car (or the wrong seat, depending on your perspective) and backed out into the street to begin my journey. What happened next, me making a few wrong turns and requiring the services of the map to determine my position in the city, isn't too important to the story, so we won't waste time on that. I had finally gotten my bearings and was on the right road. Things were looking up. Then it happened. The surreal moment struck.

I was driving the borrowed Toyota down the left side of the road from the right seat at about 60 kilometers per hour with the windows down and some African pop music coming through the radio when I had to brake for a herd of about a dozen goats that were crossing the road. BOOM! That's when the thought hit me. I'm in Africa! For the movie buffs, it was a "we're not in Texas anymore, Toto" moment. Sitting on the opposite side of the car, driving on the opposite side of the road, using the metric system for everything, listening to music in a language of which I could speak less than a dozen words, having animals roaming the streets, this was a whole new world. I had finally made it halfway around the globe to a completely different hemisphere, right where God had called me. I took a deep breath of African air, and pulled forward as the last little goat plodded off the side of the road.

God has brought me a long way, opened a lot of doors, and taught me many things in the last several years. From dreaming of attending the Air Force Academy, to planning a career in corporate jets, I had all sorts of plans in my own mind about what my future in aviation would be like. It wasn't until about halfway through college that I even began to imagine my future looking like what it is today. And what exactly is going on in my life right now? It's a valid question. Here is an update for those who haven't heard.

I left the good old U.S. of A. On September 3rd, flew across the pond to London, spent my 9 hour layover in London riding the tube (subway system) and seeing some sights, caught a 10+ hour flight to Johannesburg, barely made it to the gate for my connecting flight to Botswana on time, and ended up arriving in Gaborone right on schedule on September 5th. I was met by a group of Flying Mission Services personnel, many of whom were familiar faces from back at Liberty University. In the past week or so since my arrival, I have been given a tour of the city, an overview of Flying Mission's entire organization, a pile of documents to study in preparation for an exam, gotten to experience a number of restaurants in town and eat some authentic African food as well as some fast food, been invited to numerous BBQs (or braais as they're called here), attended a Baptist church service, gone for runs outside the city and inside it, met a lot of people, and more. Currently, I am in the process of buying a car and slowly learning a few more words and phrases in Setswana. Within the next week I will begin ground school for the Cessna 200 series fleet I will be training to fly in and then once the paperwork for my work permit, immigration, and license validations gets approved I will commence getting checked out to fly! I will continue living in the capital city until I start flying, and then I will move some 800 kilometers north to the city of Maun, where I will be based. 

More updates to follow as things move forward... Cheers!

Hopping across the pond

Westminster Abbey

Monkeys hanging around outside the FMS hangar

Faith

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." - Hebrews 11:1

A bookmark that I have stuck in my journal has Hebrews 11:1 designed onto the front of it as a reminder to me as I sit here in the Bush Intercontinental Airport waiting for the first of my flights to Africa. I always say that I have faith in God, faith in His perfect will, faith in His guidance, and faith in His promises. What exactly does that entail in its entirety? Does that mean I never have doubts or worries? Does it mean I always obey God without fail or without qualms? I hardly think so. But I must admit, as I read this verse it seems almost contradictory in its word choice. In my interpretation of the sometimes confusing English language I think of "assurance" as being a word that means certainty or without doubt. Conversely, to "hope" for something means to want it to be true but to not be sure if it will actually be that way or not. So, is the verse saying that we are sure of uncertainties? That seems non-sequitur to me. After puzzling it through for a time, here is what I came to understand the verse to mean. 

All humans have things that they "hope for." All of us hope for the best, hope we live happy lives, or hope that we can accomplish certain goals. Christians hope that the Gospel is true, that the Bible is accurate, and that God really will protect, bless, and guide them. Here is where faith comes into play. As we believe God more and commit to truly trust Him in all things, we receive assurance of the things that we had always hoped were true. Having faith in God turns our hopes into beliefs, our probablys into absolutelys, and makes everything in God's word a certainty for us. 

A good example I thought of as I pondered this subject can be found in Mark chapter 9 verses 20-27. This is where Mark wrote of the boy who was possessed with demons that the disciples were unable to cast out. They tried unsuccessfully until Jesus came back down from the mountain where the transfiguration had taken place, and then He had to do it. The desperate father says to Jesus, "if [I nope] you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us" to which Jesus answers that "all things are possible for one who believes [has faith]." The father of the boy cried out "I believe! Help my unbelief!" My paraphrase of that desperate plea would be "give me assurance of what I came here hoping would be true." The man wanted faith to trump the doubts that had formed in his mind since the disciples had not been able to cast out the demons. He hadn't seen any evidence that the reports of Jesus' power to heal demon possessed people were true, but he wanted to believe it was as he had heard. 

God can give us peace that passes understanding when He transforms our hopes into assurances. When we absolutely believe Him and stop listening to any doubts or worries that whisper in our spiritual ears, then we are exercising our faith.

I have faith that God is on my side, He is leading me to Africa, and that He will provide for and protect me as I obey Him. I don't just hope so - I know so. He has promised as much in the Bible, and He is God. He never lies. He never fails. He has all power and authority. I'm in good hands - no, I'm in the best hands.

The 777 that will take me on the first leg of my journey of faith.