Please pray for this situation. Check out
this link to get real time updates. Here is the situation as of yesterday.
I just got off the phone with Jennifer Smith as her plane is waiting to be refueled in Austin and then with Mary Beth as she is waiting for the plane to arrive in Dallas. I’m recounting the following story in real time.
Since learning of her ex-husband’s death yesterday afternoon, the hounds of hell have thrown everything they have at Jennifer. It is quite a story – those of you who are praying will see the awesome way God responds to your prayers:
Getting through to Jennifer in the first place was next to impossible. Her team was in the remote village of San Juan on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. No one seemed to have their cell phone on there. Finally AIM staff member Gary Lengkeek said, “I’ve got a friend who has a hardware store who has a friend in San Juan who lives across the street from the hotel.”
We called the friend’s friend, a man named Francisco. He said, “Let me walk across the street to the hotel.” He went there and gave the phone to Hanna, who gave the phone to Jennifer. I asked Jennifer to go in a quiet room and sit down so I could give her some very hard news.
Although they’d been divorced, Jennifer and her ex-husband, Jerry, were still very close and their 16 year-old, Christopher, is living with him. When she heard the news, the bottom fell out of her life – she was beyond devastated and couldn’t talk.
The AIM team had swung into action on Jennifer’s behalf. We had contacted WR leader Clinton White, who was in Antigua, 2 hours away. He was already en route to meet her and two teammates and take her to Guatemala City where she would catch a morning flight the next day.
After packing, Jennifer, Becca and Katie got in a boat to cross the lake. For some reason the boat didn’t go all the way. Then the next boat would only take two of the three of them. Finally, they met up with Clinton.
On the way to the airport, some man grabbed Jennifer’s bag and took off running. She raced after him, caught him, and reclaimed her bag, later saying, “There were almost two deaths I had to deal with.”
Meanwhile, AIM staff member Mary Beth Swan got on a plane to meet Jennifer in Dallas and take her to Louisville. She contacted the airport chaplain to meet Jennifer at the gate and take her to Mary Beth. She bought some clothes for her and got Mark and Carla Lindberg, AIM staff in Dallas, to buy other special things for her.
We had been praying that God would take care of Jennifer on the flight from Guatemala City. Of course he was faithful – she sat next to two missionaries who prayed for her and let her use their American cell phone.
As their plane approached the Dallas airport, high winds made it impossible for their plane to land, so they diverted to Austin, causing Jennifer to miss her connecting flight. Mary Beth was working like mad with the Dallas agent to get them on the last flight out to Louisville.
The agent said, “It can’t happen, there are nine people in front of you going standby and no one is canceling. We can get you out early tomorrow morning.”
Mary Beth said, “I serve a God who loves Jennifer and is going to take care of her. You watch.”
All of a sudden the agent gasped at what she saw on the screen, was overcome, and began to weep. “I can’t believe this. All of a sudden my computer began emptying seats that were double booked and there are two of them left, and they are together.”
A few minutes later, an announcement came over the intercom, “Because of high winds, the Dallas airport is shut down.”
So at this point, the battle continues – we are praying that it would reopen and that Jennifer’s flight would be able to land and that she and Mary Beth would make it on board. More updates when we get them.
