Submitted by Colin and Judith Carson, MVGreat Britain
April arrived in England with unusually warm, sunny days. It belied what was in store not only for Colin but for thousands of people worldwide. Colin had concluded his time in Serbia and set off on his journey home (to England) on Thursday, April 15. The unprecedented disruption of global travel could not have been envisioned on such a lovely day! The catastrophic fallout from the erupting Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull with its glass-filled black ash formed a layer in the atmosphere which made it impossible for all planes to fly.
‘Got a couple of hours to spare?’
More than ever, we know that God orders our steps while we make our plans! Colin arrived at Belgrade airport to be informed that he would only be able to get to Munich, Germany as all flights to the UK were cancelled. Two hours seemed to be the mandatory waiting time to work through the mounting volumes of passengers needing accommodation for the night. But the airline did get him a hotel for the night, transportation, plus a seat on the flight next day. Friday came and Colin dutifully presented himself at the check-in desk only to discover that during the night not only UK airspace had been shut down, but most of western Europe was locked down too. Cancelled seemed to be airlines’ word of the day. No one could have envisaged that for the next six days lock-down would still be in place and the back-up of people around the globe would reach unmanageable proportions. After being directed to the train station queue, Colin had another couple of spare hours to contemplate the daunting task of trying to get home!
Getting Home
A travel strategy of sorts was started with a fellow Brit, Bob Moores whom Colin had met in one of his ‘couple of hours’ waiting time slots. They embarked on a train excursion to Amsterdam, Holland. Why Amsterdam? They were hoping to be able to catch a more frequent flight option there, but of course they were blissfully unaware that the no-fly space was still in operation over all Europe. But God His own travel strategy, He had a man called Niek there who would take them back to England!
Do you believe that God enlists the unbelievers into His plans? We reply a resounding yes! Bob Moores ‘just happened’ to have a friend by the name of Niek who lived in Arnhem, on the outskirts of Amsterdam! So during their uncomfortable, stressful train trek through Frankfurt and on to Amsterdam, Bob thought to phone Niek and see if he had any ideas to help them. He did! It was now late Friday night.
Trains and boats and planes
Niek discovered that he could get his car onto the Eurotunnel train which goes under the North Sea from France to England. On any ordinary day, this would have no consequence; but in a time when hundreds of commuters are trying desperately to get a boat seat, a train seat, a car seat…any seat that would get them home…it was a miracle! He offered to drive Colin and Bob from his home through Holland, Belgium and France to the Channel tunnel and into the southern city of England, Folkestone near Dover. What a great sight to eventually see the English coast. Then there was just another two train journeys to go! Judith had managed to book Colin onto the Intercity London/Manchester train. After twelve hours in a car and traveling on three trains, Colin finally reached home – around 55 hours later after he started for home.
Amazingly, God’s ‘satellite’ navigation system tracked Colin every step of the way and guided him through every twist and turn in his journey home. Even to seasoned travelers like us, this journey was like no other. There was the draining eight hour, 560 mile journey on two trains crossing two countries, standing all the way, packed in shoulder to shoulder! This was followed by a twelve hour, four country journey the next day. It was physically and emotionally taxing with the constant anxiety of wondering when and how he could make it home. In spite of all this frustration, stress and distraction, Colin was able to take the opportunities to witness not only to Bob and Niek, but others on that long Friday train excursion seemed to want to listen. Not every day they get to meet a real live ‘reverend’ and not every day, we get to have a captive audience!