"If you help me out, I'll help you out."

Late Afternoon, September 17th, 2024 - Charlotte International Airport

Alyx and I arrived, with Isabella, at the Charlotte Airport rental car terminal where we dropped off the rental car we had been driving. This was also the rendezvous point with our good friend Ethan, who flew to the Charlotte airport that day to sync up with us and be a baggage pusher/friend the rest of the way to Manaus. What a blessing he was! 

From the rental car station, we made our way down to the departures area where passengers are normally dropped off. Some other great friends, the Rauch Family, had all 18 of our bags and boxes with them in the back of their pick up truck, and the plan was to meet them curbside to receive the luggage, and Selah, who was riding with them as their youngest daughter was one of Selah’s best friends in Waxhaw. 

When we arrived at the departures curb, I found a guy with a large baggage cart and asked if he could help us when all our bags arrived. He said “If you help me out, I’ll help you all the way through your check in process.” 

I said, “Of course! I’d be happy to help you out if you can help us out.” 

Then it was silent for a few seconds and I realized I didn’t know quite what he meant, so I offered up, “How exactly do I help you out? Do you mean like a tip or something?” 

“Yeah, yeah, something like that. Whatever you think would be fair. Just help me out,” he said. 

“Oh of course, yeah, definitely. I’ll help you out, if you help me out.”

Having no clue what a proper tip was for helping a family with 18 bags and suitcases, I digitally transferred him $60 and he jumped to action. It was some of the best $60 I ever spent. He got everything onto his large wagon and pushed it to the check in desk, waited patiently for us to snake through the line, and then helped the check-in lady with all the bag tags. He was tagging bags and throwing them on the conveyor belt without even weighing things (weight of the bags was a slight concern of mine). At one point the check in lady said “and all these bags are under 50 lbs?”

“Yes ma’am! All under 50!” He said as he chucked another box onto the conveyor belt. 

I smiled at the check in lady and affirmed what he said. “Yep, they should all be under 50.”

And so the first of my biggest worries was resolved with this move. I had been fretting for the last year about what we should bring, how much we should bring, how we should pack it, and how we would ever be able to get it all from the living room in North Carolina to the living room in Brazil.

It was so simple. None of how it exactly unfolded was planned. It just happened. Moving to Brazil to help out at Missão do Céu has not been the easiest thing we have ever done, but all the big “hurdles” are somehow easily cleared without much actual effort being put in on our part. There is plenty of thinking and stressing about these hurdles, but when it comes to actually jumping over them, it often feels more like a divine presence comes down and either knocks the hurdle down, or gracefully lifts us over it.

Last week, I went to one of the few parts of Manaus where it is safe to go running at night and I went for a jog. I felt led to listen to the book of Joshua that night, and what an encouragement it was. The broad theme of Joshua that I took away from that listening session was this: the Lord is the source of the victory, not our efforts. Yes, the Israelites did have to show up to the battlefield, but it was God who did the work of delivering the victory.

Over the next few weeks, we are hoping to tell a few of our battlefield stories here, if for no other reason than to simply encourage you wherever you may be in your hurdles race. 

See you next week!

Learn more about the mission by clicking the button below!