The purpose of us going to HK was to renew our visas. The game plan was: arrive in HK, stay in the hostel we booked for ONE night, and leave for the airport early the next morning. However, the things we sometimes plan, don’t always go the way we plan. This is basically what I’ve been finding out since my stay here in Asia. Upon checking into the airport; my roommate and I were informed that our flight back home was canceled due to a storm that was approaching the next day. I wasn’t completely panicking at this time. In my mind I was like, “I’m sure by Saturday we will be leaving this place. It’ll be okay.”

As we left our plane and headed into the airport to check ourselves in, we were informed by our two teammates that we wouldn’t be heading back to X-town until Sunday. As everyone was celebrating our extended time in HK, I can honestly say I wasn’t celebrating with them. I was experiencing a mixture of anxiety and frustration. I literally only packed for one extra day! How could this possibly be happening?! Things that night were only about to get more interesting for us. We were able to locate our hostel, only to discover our rooms we booked weren’t available until the NEXT day! Again, I felt total anxiety and frustration come over me. I was beyond exhausted and I had no idea how our first night in HK was going to turn out.

We decided to make McDonald’s our first meal as a team in HK. Two of our teammates were able to locate another hostel for us for the night. But things were only about to get worse. As our team entered the hostel, completely beat and ready to hit our beds, we were met by the owner who demanded that we pay her extra for the rooms. As 5 of our teammates sacrificed their sleep for the 6 of us to get ours, I laid in bed, praying to myself asking God not only for protection for my 5 other teammates, but for His purpose in all of this. The next morning we all met up planning together the rest of our stay in HK. Instead of groaning and moaning about our current situation, we as a team decided to embrace it.

I can honestly say I am so grateful that our flight was canceled. For me personally I felt like I grew closer to my team within these last 3 days than I have in the last 2 almost 3 months being here in X-town. It’s a moment of bonding that I’ll cherish forever. As excited as I was to head back home to X-town; I was saddened by the thought that our entire team wouldn’t be together, that we were going to be separated again, heading back to our separate campuses. All I know is that I’m truly thankful for the team that God has given me this year. They are more than just my teammates, they’re my family. God is good ALL the time!