Return Flight

Heavy rain began falling at 4:00pm on Monday afternoon, complicating our computer training and satellite internet connection. We managed to run the BGAN under an umbrella for a little while during the rain, but the wind was blowing the rain, and we had to quit. We had some trouble coordinating Oliver’s editorial authorization in the Paratext translation software but managed to get it sorted out during the evening. Heath also installed printer software on Oliver’s computer, so that he can print translation drafts for village testing.

Even with the rain pouring hard all evening, we had visitors stopping by to say goodbye. The stream of visitors slowed around 7:30pm, so we sat in Neil’s living room, drank Milo, read Scripture, talked, and prayed. These are precious moments. After Sunday’s exertion, I was fading early last night, so I headed to bed around 8:45pm. I figured I’d fall right asleep, but the pouring rain was worrying me for our flight today. I don’t know how long I laid awake before I fell asleep. Throughout the night I kept waking and falling back asleep. I was imagining every kind of nightmare about not getting home for some undefined period of time, missing appointments and expectations. I think I woke for good about 4:00am and just kept praying away the worry as it continued to rain. I was also trying to imagine what kind of weather pattern might create 12 hours of continuous rain, hoping that it was a frontal passage that would push through and leave clear air behind. When the rain stopped around 5:00am, it didn’t actually feel like an answer to prayer, but I figured at least the pilots might not have to fight their way through rain to reach us.

Neil normally gets up around 6:00am to boil water for coffee and tea. The HF radio comes on just before the 6:30am aviation radio schedule. When Neil gave the weather report for Mt. Tawa, it was 100% cloud coverage all the way to the ground. They made a plan to reconnect on the radio at 11:30am for another weather check before the plane was scheduled to arrive around 1:30pm. Neil decided to celebrate our departure today with another pancake breakfast. We ate pancakes soaked with Australian honey and had hot tea to drink. We stayed at the table a while to read Scripture and pray together. I cleared the table, and as I did the dishes I was looking out the kitchen window to the south and began to see the clouds thinning and patches of blue beyond.

After breakfast, we walked up the path toward the school to watch the kids assemble and listen to them singing. As we walked, the clouds continued to rise and thin. Neil wanted to go up to the airstrip “phone booth” to call Carol, so we continued walking up the path. Oliver’s two youngest boys, Craig and Keison, walked the entire way holding Heath’s and my hands. They loved swinging around on our arms. Naturally, we had to shake hands and hug everyone along the way. We got up to the airstrip about 8:30am. By then the airstrip was clear, but the approach was still cloudy—similar to conditions when we arrived last week. By 10:00am, the clouds were continuing to rise and thin, so it seemed likely the plane would be able to get in to pick us up.

About 11:30am it began pouring rain again. As the rain fell from the clouds overhead into the already saturated jungle, fog began filling the valleys. It didn’t look good. The rain actually stopped a few minutes before we heard the SIL plane approaching. Through the cloud layers, I occasionally glimpsed the plane as it made a wide circle overhead, surveying the weather. The pilot called on the radio to let us know that he was not going to be able to land.

Normally, I’ve been the pilot sitting in the airplane making these decisions, secure in the knowledge that I would get home. As the sound of the airplane faded into the distance, I was reminded what it feels like to be left behind.