America in a weekend

As some of you may know, I did a quick turnaround trip to America for one of my best friend's weddings. After four months of saving up, help from a friend in the airline business, and the grace of God, I was in Orlando Friday night. If your wondering "How does a missionary afford to go to America for a weekend?" the answer is through God's provision. I knew about the wedding for many months and searched every possible way to get there. I looked at discount airlines, set a budget that I was willing to spend, and started saving. While talking to a friend/student that was coming on summer project (6 weeks of Americans being here to help us on campus), I mentioned my financial struggle with the wedding. By "coincidence" her father works for a major airline and had an extra "buddy pass" that would expire if not used in the next month. In order to fly this way, I had to fly standby and had no guarantee I would ever get to Orlando or back. The ticket price was approx. 1/3 what it would have been if I had bought it retail, and thus was within my budget (after saving up).

So I travelled to Rome Thursday night to be at the airport at 7:30 the next morning. There was a flight to Atlanta leaving at 9:45 that was oversold by 25 seats. I didn't think I had a chance, but there's no way of knowing until you try. Also, the next flight to the States wasn't until 11:45. So I waited. They were wrapping up boarding, and I heard a girl talking to the desk agent that she had heard her name called - Stephanie Lynch. She was then informed they were calling Tiffany Lynch. Thank God for listening in on others' conversations - I hadn't heard them call my name! I received the LAST seat on the airplane!

Then in Atlanta, there was a connecting flight to Orlando leaving at 4:30. After talking to an agent, I was informed they downgraded an airplane and left 60 people in need of a flight to Orlando. So again, I thought I had little chance of getting a seat. I was number 6 on a standby list where there were only 4 seats available on the plane. I started to walk away about 5 minutes before they closed the gate, ready to move on to the next flight. Something told me to wait just a few minutes longer - so I turned around. The agent at the desk called names, checking to be sure passengers were not there... the standby list went to 5, then 4, then 3, 2, me. Again, the LAST seat on the plane! The agent even took me and another guy and rushed us into the jetway because if anyone else came with a ticket, he would have to let them on (leaving us without seats).

I arrived in Orlando at 6pm, able to meet the bride and groom at the rehearsal dinner and spend the evening with the bride! God blessed my weekend in town with seeing many friends and my family for breakfast.

Monday was a bit less eventful, but definitely a gift from God. I boarded an early flight to JFK, had 7 hrs to kill, then got on a 5pm flight to Rome. I was a bit nervous about customs in Rome becuase I had left my permeso receipts in Salerno by accident. They could have denied me entry into Italy... if they had checked. The passport control guy barely looked at my passport as he stamped it and handed it back!

The rest of my time traveling from Rome to Salerno was a bit tough because I was transporting 50lbs of flyers for an outreach - not fun on trains and buses while half-asleep with jetlag. But God gave me energy to make it back to the apartment. (I just felt bad for the people who offered to help me get it on and off trains...they didn't know what they were getting into!)

Now, I'm back in Salerno, back on campus, and trying to set my internal clock correctly. I'm excited for the last month of ministry and also to return to America - finally feeling a healthy balance of the two! Thank you for your prayers during this past crazy weekend!!! (Testimony that prayer works!)