2020 Has Been No Surprise to God

2020 has been a year filled with surprises. They haven’t been a surprise party or breakfast in bed kind of surprises. Oh, no! 2020’s surprises have been more like turning the handle of a toy Jack-in-the-box and waiting for the world’s most sinister clown to pop out at you and conk you over the head. But no matter what 2020 has thrown or will throw at us, none of it has or will come as a surprise to God. We can all take comfort in that.

Kirstin Sowers began 2020 with a plan. She was going to move back to Honduras and begin working full-time with Sowers4Pastors. In anticipation, she put in notice to her job at the hospital. Then the Jack-the-box jumped out and said, “Not so fast, sweetie! You aren’t allowed to fly into Honduras right now.” But God is still in control. The hospital has continued to employ her knowing that she will be on the first flight she can possibly take to Honduras. She has had the blessing of continued financial resources through it all!

Kirstin isn’t where she imagined she’d be right now, but she is still doing what God wants her to do. She is still helping people. Like all of us, Kirstin has a mission field wherever she is at the moment.

Of course, Kirstin isn’t the only person affected by current travel restrictions. (Queue up Pop Goes the Weasel because the Jack-in-the-box is getting ready to fly out!) The way travel between Honduras and the U.S. has been working is that U.S. citizens can leave Honduras whenever they can get on a flight. Even though it’s a bit more complicated than normal and there’s a good chance your flight will be bumped, it can be done. Getting back into Honduras is much harder.

You can only get in if you are a Honduran citizen or have legal residency and a valid identity card. The government offices that make the physical cards have shut down, which was bad news for people holding cards nearing their expiration dates. While the government has been happy to take your money for renewal, they were only issuing a paper showing you were renewing. That paperwork was not accepted for travel purposes.

Russell, Allen, and Trish have ID cards that expire in August. Since that’s smack-dab in the middle of the trip to the U.S. to collect backpacks, it was a little concerning. Russell and Allen knew they could make it to the States, but they weren’t sure when they would be able to get back to Honduras. Being the persuasive guys they are, they figured they could talk their way through any difficulties! They were still planning on making the trip even with an uncertain end date.

The open-ended travel plans were a surprise to Allen and Russell but God knew what was coming. Just this week, the rules were changed, and people with expired ID cards can re-enter Honduras, providing they have the paperwork to show they paid for renewal.

As Trish said, “Even though we’re sort of stuck, God knows what we need. I’m hoping a lot of people are learning a lesson we’ve learned as missionaries--that when you run out of other resources, you get better at turning to God.”

 - posted by Christi