God's Provision for Cuba at LAX
Monday, March 4th was one of those days that I wished would never end.
My wife, Celia, and I were flying back to Seattle after spending 10 days in Singapore visiting supporters.
During our layover in Tokyo we checked our email and were informed that one of our Singapore friends had decided to give a generous donation.
Landing at LAX, we checked our email again and — would you believe it? — one of our staff had emailed me about a big check that came in the mail that day. Wow!
But good news sometimes comes in threes and God still had something special in store for us.
Since Celia had ankle surgery in late January, we requested wheelchair service when we landed. A young man named Ricardo was assigned to take us all the way from immigration and customs out to the curb where we could catch a shuttle to another terminal for our flight home.
We hit if off with Ricardo right away. He had a great sense of humor, as evidenced by when he scanned our passports for us at customs and told us we looked “ready for Hollywood.” (Ready for a nap, was more like it.)
Ricardo wheeled Celia all the way out to the curb, where we enjoyed the cool air and waited across the street from LAX’s unique control tower (shown above).
The shuttle took a while, so we started to talk to Ricardo about our projects in Cuba. He was quite interested, saying that he was also a Christian and that some day he would like to travel there and take some needed items for the churches. He asked what types of donated items would be most appreciated.
“Everything!” we replied, which is our usual answer to that question. Clothing, shoes, medicine, vitamins, reading glasses— Cuba has a shortage of almost all basic items, so everything is welcome.
Celia then said, “One time Brian made the mistake of taking one of our Cuban colleagues to the dump.” She was referring to a day when one of our teammates was visiting our home from Cuba and he helped me dump a load of garbage.
“What do you mean, ‘mistake?’” Ricardo asked.
“Because my Cuban friend couldn’t believe his eyes,” I replied. “He was saying, ‘That mattress is still good! That bike over there is still good! Americans throw out lots of things that can still be used.”
At that moment I noticed some scraps of paper in my jacket pocket and I walked about ten feet to a garbage can near the curb. As I was starting to throw the paper in, I saw lying right on top were three brand new dresses, still sealed in plastic.
I scooped them up and said to Ricardo, “Speaking of what Americans throw away, look at this!”
His eyes got big and said, “Are you playing a joke on me?” I assured him I was not, and he said, “Then, this can’t be a coincidence.”
All three of us laughed and marveled at God’s perfect timing in proving a point and providing three new dresses for Cuba! We are so grateful for all the ways the Lord takes care of our needs.
My wife, Celia, and I were flying back to Seattle after spending 10 days in Singapore visiting supporters.
During our layover in Tokyo we checked our email and were informed that one of our Singapore friends had decided to give a generous donation.
Landing at LAX, we checked our email again and — would you believe it? — one of our staff had emailed me about a big check that came in the mail that day. Wow!
But good news sometimes comes in threes and God still had something special in store for us.
Since Celia had ankle surgery in late January, we requested wheelchair service when we landed. A young man named Ricardo was assigned to take us all the way from immigration and customs out to the curb where we could catch a shuttle to another terminal for our flight home.
We hit if off with Ricardo right away. He had a great sense of humor, as evidenced by when he scanned our passports for us at customs and told us we looked “ready for Hollywood.” (Ready for a nap, was more like it.)
Ricardo wheeled Celia all the way out to the curb, where we enjoyed the cool air and waited across the street from LAX’s unique control tower (shown above).
The shuttle took a while, so we started to talk to Ricardo about our projects in Cuba. He was quite interested, saying that he was also a Christian and that some day he would like to travel there and take some needed items for the churches. He asked what types of donated items would be most appreciated.
“Everything!” we replied, which is our usual answer to that question. Clothing, shoes, medicine, vitamins, reading glasses— Cuba has a shortage of almost all basic items, so everything is welcome.
Celia then said, “One time Brian made the mistake of taking one of our Cuban colleagues to the dump.” She was referring to a day when one of our teammates was visiting our home from Cuba and he helped me dump a load of garbage.
“What do you mean, ‘mistake?’” Ricardo asked.
“Because my Cuban friend couldn’t believe his eyes,” I replied. “He was saying, ‘That mattress is still good! That bike over there is still good! Americans throw out lots of things that can still be used.”
At that moment I noticed some scraps of paper in my jacket pocket and I walked about ten feet to a garbage can near the curb. As I was starting to throw the paper in, I saw lying right on top were three brand new dresses, still sealed in plastic.
I scooped them up and said to Ricardo, “Speaking of what Americans throw away, look at this!”
His eyes got big and said, “Are you playing a joke on me?” I assured him I was not, and he said, “Then, this can’t be a coincidence.”
All three of us laughed and marveled at God’s perfect timing in proving a point and providing three new dresses for Cuba! We are so grateful for all the ways the Lord takes care of our needs.