Urgent -- Please pray!

Writing from Miami, where in a few hours we'll board our flight to Santa Cruz. A couple of updates to inform you of.

We called American Airlines on Thursday to double-check the situation with our baggage (we each have two gargantually-overweight cases, plus a bass guitar and an acoustic guitar). They informed us that the baggage was fine, provided we were prepared to pay excess, but the guitars could not be checked -- they could only be taken on-board. The acoustic guitar case is a fairly snug fit, but the bass case is a special flight case, so there was no way we could take it with us. I therefore resigned myself to being reunited with my beloved fretless when our first Canadian visitor arrives.

At the airport today, of course, we played the missionary card and pled with them to take the flight case, but it was no-go. However, that wasn't the last of it -- they informed us that the agreement between AA and the Bolivian government does not allow for any excess baggage! Essentially, our desk attendant would be putting his neck on the chopping board if anyone found out. Yet, after ten minutes of waiting and praying to ourselves (hey, it worked at Glasgow!), he conceded! Nevertheless, due to the weight of each case, we really have no idea if our cases will get any further than Miami. So we would really appreciate if you could just remember this situation in your prayers over the next few hours.

When we got to the departure lounge, I realised I hadn't read my Bible today and today's reading was from Luke 19, in this case, Jesus' triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. Upon instructing his disciples as to locating the requisite colt, he advises them that they will be quizzed and that their answer is to be simply, "The Lord has need of it". As I read these words, I once again felt a real sense of peace about the whole situation. Over the past year, so many seeming insurmountables have arrived in our path (moving to Bolivia being just one of them!), yet I have known every time we have overcome them that the Lord, does indeed, have need of us. It is with this assurance that we board our flight, confident that our cases are sitting comfortably in the bowels of the Boeing!