More Than Luck (Boston 1)

May 25 I left for Boston with 13 others on a mission trip. It was my first mission trip, and I can say that it will not be my last. My team consisted of an awesome group of people, 90% of them I had never met before. Their names are Matt, Molly, Sarah, Jerica, Caleb P., Caleb H., Christian, Travis, Alfonso, Chelsea, Clay, Alden, & our team leader, Roswell.We woke up at 3 in the morning to get to the airport. That's about 7 hours too early for me. 2 plane rides along with an Atlanta layover later, we arrive in Boston.

On our first flight there was a man sitting in front of me that passed out. His sugar was real low and he was sweating very badly. This was my first flight on an airplane, and I wondered if this had happened all of the time. Luckily there were a few nurses on the flight that were able to help this man. While they scurried around on the plane to find water, orange juice, and sugar packets to put on his tongue, I was wondering if the man was a believer. Not because his life was on the line or anything, but because he was alone on the flight with no family, with health problems. I asked him if Roswell and I could pray for him, and he shook his tired head. "Yes," he said. Then we prayed for him. A lot of people were watching us, which was weird at first. When the man mustered enough energy to speak, he was very appreciative of the prayers.

Boston was really, really cold when we arrived. It was a very gray scene, sort of how it was at the end of Amazing Spiderman when Peter Parker shows up at Gwen Stacy's door after he missed her father's funeral. Maybe that was a bit too much, but the city seemed to not have much life.We had to purchase "T-cards" to get around the city for the week. We started on a bus, that led to the subway. And then from the subway to a bus that took us to where we were going to say for the next week and a half.

After we stepped off of the subway, I noticed that I was missing my backpack. My backpack held my Ipad, bibles, books, and headphones. Once I noticed that it was gone, I just stopped talking. I waited a bit and caught Roswell's attention (I didn't want to make a scene and be that guy who left his bag on the subway).

On the outside, I seemed very calm. On the inside, was a different story. And it didn't help that some people vocalized that finding it would be impossible. Though I was the main guy telling myself that, I attempted to make calls. Calls to the bus station. Calls to the subway station. I thought to call 911, but I don't think the situation was that severe; I'll live.After many attempts, calls, and voice messages, I sort of gave up. Roswell even said that they can try to get me a new Ipad. Hope was lost, well kind of. There was still a little amount of faith in my head that kept on telling me that I would leave Boston with my backpack.

We stayed in the basement of this church called Redeemer Fellowship in Watertown, Massachusetts. Yes, you are correct. It is the same city where they found the terrorists that bombed the Boston Marathon. The church was not too far away from the house with the bloody boat in the backyard. Though it seemed as if the region needed it, there were not that many churches in Boston. In Texas, or the south in general, we see churches on every corner. The Watertown and Boston areas were different kinds of beasts. Though the churches had beautiful buildings and what not, most of them were renovated into multi-bedroom condos. Though that sounds cool, it is really a shame to see what was happening in the Northeast.

After we settled down in the basement, we left out to grab a bite to eat as a team at a Greek restaurant down the street from the church. As we walked, I received a phone call from a Massachusetts area code number. To my surprise, it was a guy calling from the lost & found area in the subway! Earlier when I had talked to him, I gave him a description of my bag, and by God's grace, it was turned in! This was definitely a miracle.

So I had to wait until the next day to pick it up, after the church service. We got to meet a lot of nice people with awesome Bostonian accents. The worship was not like a full-on contemporary Texas church service, it was only a guitar and two other vocalists. It wasn't flashy at all. Not saying that flashy is bad but, the simplicity of the church service great. There were no lyrics running across a projector screen, there were only inserts inside of the program. There was also a nice little outline to help us follow along with the pastor, Chris.

After the service, i was able to meet this Greek family. Their son volunteered to take Alfonso and I to pick up my bag at one of the JFK Station in Boston. His name is Josh, and he talked rapidly with an accent. He's a great guy and I didn't seem like I was a burden to him or anything. He enjoyed giving me a ride to the station to pick up my bag. When we got it, everything was in there. My Ipad, study bible, the whole shebang. Once I finally had it in my hand Josh and Alfonso told me how they thought in the back of their minds that I would never find it again. "That never happens here, usually stuff like that get's stolen!" Josh repeated.

When i lost my bag, the first phrase to pop up in my head was "Everything happens for a reason." That quote is as cliche as it is true. It wasn't luck that got my bag back, it was God. I feel like that was a preparation for what was to come in the next week. As if God was saying, "Do you trust me to return this bag to you?"

The world is a dark place, but God is so great. Through my sin and mistakes and imperfections and stupidity and rejection to His love for most of my life, He still hunted me down. We deem some people as nonredeemable. We label some people as if God can not do anything in their lives. On this mission trip I knew that I was going to be challenged, but I didn't know how. Finding my bag seemed impossible, but there it was in my grasp. I'm sure this was the first of many lessons God wants to teach me, that no mission is impossible for Him. He brought light out of darkness by mere words. He can redeem a man. Better yet, he can redeem a city.

Some people call finding my bag luck, but it's always more than that. I couldn't wait to experience what the Lord wanted to show me through this trip.

(to be continued...)