The journey to Kathmandu, Nepal to begin talking with our
partners about the process of disaster recovery has begun. And already I can
see God’s hand in this. Upon boarding the plane I made my way back to seat 40K,
a window seat near the very back of the plane. Waiting for me there was a young
man who asked if I would mind switching seats with him so that he could sit
next to his wife on the long flight from Chicago to Doha, Qatar. I quickly
consented before even seeing his ticket, well aware I could be stuck in the
middle of the five seats in a center section of the jumbo jet.
God is good. The seat for which I switched was 18B. Yes, a
middle seat, but located on the bulkhead with more than four feet of leg room
stretched out in front of me. What an unexpected surprise from a gracious
Father. But I was to soon discover that my personal comfort wasn’t what God had
in mind in moving me to 18B.
Shortly after takeoff, as I was about to settle in and watch
the first of what I planned would be at least three movies (with sleeping in
between), the man in 18C struck up a conversation. One thing I try to avoid on
long flights…or flights of any sort…is conversation. But here I was, relocated
to a comfortable seat about to start a conversation with Khalid from Pakistan.
After a few brief minutes he discerned that I was Christian
and announced that he was Muslim. He then asked me what I thought about
Muslims. At which point I guessed the small talk was over. Over the thirteen
hour flight Khalid and I talked for about four hours total, interspersed with
sleeping and, yes, one movie. I talked about Jesus from the Bible and he talked
about Jesus from the Quran. I read him passages from the Gospel of John and 1
Corinthians. He read me passages from the Quran. We talked about the Abrahamic
roots of both faiths. We talked about what jihad really means from his
perspective. He pleaded with me to explain what it looks like to follow Jesus
and how to know when the Holy Spirit speaks to you. I told him I believed the
Holy Spirit put he and I together. When he asked why, I told him I was sitting
in a seat not assigned to me and that I don’t like to talk to people on
flights. But when the Holy Spirit gives you a nudge…you go!
In the end we agreed that religion can get hijacked by
vicious, selfish, sinful people and use their scriptures to sanction behaviors
never really licensed by any scripture. He agreed to download YouVerse, the
popular Bible app and start reading (I suggested the Gospel of John and Romans
as a good starting place). I agreed to download QuranExplorer and begin reading
the Quran (he suggested I start at the beginning with the Fateha).
One last note; Khalid now lives in West Lafayette, Indiana
with his family. He’s less than an hour away from my home in Indianapolis. Once
we both get back to the U.S. he wants to welcome me to his home to meet his
family. Something I’m very much looking forward to.
We parted company and I headed to the transfer desk of Qatar
Airways where Arpana helped me get set with hotel and meal vouchers for the
night. Arpana is from Kathmandu and still has family there. She asked who I
worked for and I told her ServLife International. She wrote it down and thanked
me for going to “help her people.” Suddenly the true purpose of this trip came
rushing back. But, oh, how I cherish the divine appointments God is making
along the way!
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