The journey to Africa started for 6 out of 7 of us on Friday, Nov. 30. I (Ken Morris) was the lone member left behind. At the airport I found out that South Africa started a new policy in October that required all persons entering their country must have two consecutive blank visa pages in their passports. I had one and was refused by the airline to board the plane to South Africa.
After a flurry of phone calls, emails and faxes, I had a letter from Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn and was headed to Washington DC to expedite the addition of pages to my passport. I was at the passport office Monday morning as it opened and, only by the grace of God and some very sympathetic government workers, had my extra pages within two hours. Then after an hour and a half working with a ticket agent at Washington Reagan Airport I had my Friday tickets reissued for Monday. I flew to Atlanta and was there less than 1 hour before boarding my flight to South Africa.
In spite of the dissapointment of not boarding the flight this past Friday, I ended up having some unexpected time with my wife and kids (we went to the Christmas parade in Franklin on Saturday) and I saw, once again, how God quietly slips into my day and graciously provides.
I am writing from the hotel in Cape Town (having arrived at 9:00 last night, Tuesday). Rick said the time so far has been overwhelming. The beauty of the country, the contrast between wealth and poverty, the faithfulness of those serving here to extend good news and good works that declare the Kingdom.
Today, I will see some of the ministries and meet some of the people the rest of the team has already been interacting with. Tonight we will fly to Johannesburg where we will overnight and then fly to Malawi tomorrow morning. I'll try and have pictures on my next entry.
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