I'd never flown on an airplane before, but I looked forward to it. I looked forward to everything about my trip to Russia, Hungary and Romania. That doesn't change the fact, however, that saying goodbye is hard. After bidding farewell to my family, friends and Joey, I boarded the plane, sat down, and... cried my eyes out. The lady sitting next to me wasn't sure what to do with me because I couldn't even answer her questions due to the fact that I was crying so hard. I'm positive she thought I had a serious case of the mental.
The Youth ReachOut participants like myself came from all over the US, so I didn't know a single soul in our group of 25+ high school and college age students who would be a part of the ministry tour that summer in 1995. But within a few hours of arriving for the week of training, these strangers felt like family. They would be my family for the next 5 weeks.
Before leaving town, I gave Joey a booklet I made that contained a page for each day we would be apart. On each page, I wrote and cleverly illustrated a Bible verse along with a few thoughts and words from me. It was over the top cheesy, but Joey fell victim to cheese as well. He snuck a few of his own notes into random places in my luggage before I flew off.
I treasured each note I found. Over the span of 5 weeks, my feet would touch the soil of not just Russia, but Hungary, Romania, and even the newly created Czech Republic. I would laugh, cry, witness, sing and be forever changed. I would be served strange new foods like borsch and cow tongue. I would walk in Red Square and see the colorful onion-top spires of St. Basil's Cathedral. I would listen to the Russians speak their language and fall in love with its sound. In Romania, I would encounter real life Gypsies and orphans. In Hungary, I would sleep in an old castle. All along the way, I would have the great privilege of sharing my testimony and my love for Jesus with a world outside my bubble. I would see God move in ways that would strengthen my faith in ways I could never have imagined.
We didn't have email or any way of communicating with those back home for the duration of the trip, so I often longed for a chance to talk to Joey and tell him about these experiences. My stories, however, would have to wait until I arrived back home.
I made plenty of friends on the trip and these friends kept me fairly well entertained. They were the perfect combination of silly and serious. We all shared the like-mindedness of ministry and took that job very seriously. We loved seeing the Lord work in the hearts of those we ministered to and we truly experienced how very great our God is together. This formed a strong bond between us. But we also enjoyed plenty of goofing off on our bus rides, skit nights and down time. Inevitably, there happened to be a little bit of flirting between the guys and girls on the trip. I think there may have even been a few unofficial couples that started (and maybe even ended) during our 5 week journey together, even though this sort of thing was strictly forbidden in the handbook.
Castles hold charm and romance in novels as well as in real life. The castle we stayed in in Hungary had been turned into a conference center for Word of Life Ministries, but it still held the beauty and charm of a time long ago. One night near the end of our trip, a bunch of us stayed out on the veranda joking and talking. Some of the girls were acting a little flirty and some of the guys were starting to show off, so I was a little uncomfortable and feeling a little lonely. Then one of the guys named Seth started quoting the Jabberwocky poem out of the blue.
A rush of memories flooded over me. I'd often marveled at Joey's ability to recite the entire poem along with its myriad of nonsensical words. But hearing Seth quote the poem aroused in me feelings I had been trying to keep at bay this entire trip. I quietly excused myself from the group to retire inside. I remember slipping into bed that night and shedding a few tears of longing for the man I loved countless miles away. These were the first tears I shed for him since the plane ride to leave Oklahoma nearly 5 weeks earlier. Absence had truly made my heart grow fonder. I couldn't wait to get home. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!
(Click the "older posts" button below to be taken to the next chapter)
