With God, all things are possible (Luke 1:26-38).
Fleeing into Jordan
Our Isreali tour guide on the bus going to the Jordan border spoke to us about life in Israel and the war. He said war was normal for him, just like a tornado in the west is normal for us. When he heard the siren for missiles, he would run up to the roof with his brother and watch them zoom by. It was a sobering thought for me to think that war and its effects could be a normal part of life for someone.
At one point, our new Jordanian tour guide came running out to me with anxiety, exclaiming that there was a mistake on the name list that contained all our information. This name list was essential to our ability to cross over the border into Jordan. Without it, I was told, we could be arrested. He was not sure if they would accept this list or if we would have to apply for a new one… which could take several hours. I texted my sisters whom I lived with in Austria, “Pray.” An hour later, the tour guide came back with relief. He said they accepted the list. Now we just had to wait for them to call us and stamp our passports. Hours passed. We ate lunch pilgrim style, with just our hands for utensils.
Eventually we were called! We got our passports stamped and made it through security without any hindrances. We all cheered when we got on the next bus and met our tour guide who would get us safely to our hotel in Amman and help us with the next day’s travels. We were all exhausted from the long day but still celebrated this victory by passing around Isreali cookies while learning about life in Jordan from our tour guide.
Getting Flights
Flying from Jordan to home was another small miracle. The director of our study abroad program and other staff spent hours on multiple phone lines trying to find flights for our (very large) group. “Two flights Germany, three to Italy, etc… No wait - those two are no longer available…” They thought they would fly us out in small groups anywhere, as long as it was back to Europe. It was not the most ideal, but there seemed to be no other choice. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, 26 spots opened up on one flight to Vienna and another 16 on a later flight. We have no doubt it was due to all the prayers and our guardian angels working over-time for us!
Austria, Sweet Austria
We landed and proceeded to go through customs, however, one student lost their passport. So close. Yet so far. I check every pocket and space in this student’s bag. Nothing. I sent the group on without us. We called a worker over… well, more like I was running back towards the gate, got yelled at and then I ran to the worker and explained what happened. He made some phone calls and twenty minutes later, we had the passport! Praise God!
We walked towards the exit of the airport. Everyone was waiting for us. As we stepped onto the exit ramp I saw the whole group watching for us, including two of my sisters! Everyone called out the student’s name as we walked down the ramp. I raised my hands in the air and everyone cheered. (We made quite a scene in that quiet Austrian airport.) I ran into many embraces - by my sisters and by the students. It was utterly glorious. We had made it. It was all over. We were safe and we could finally rest!
As I look back, I realize the greatest gift for me in the trip was exercising my spiritual motherhood to a degree that I had never done before. My femininity allowed me to be uniquely attentive to the students. For those few days, I was the one they leaned upon for support and the one the parents trusted to care for their children. I later received many “thank you’s” from parents, often with tears in their eyes. I pondered in awe at the work of the Lord. I almost did not go on the trip and though I did, I could not do anything more but be myself and accept my poverty. The end result was the flourishing and fruitfulness of my spiritual motherhood. The two don’t add up (being in poor and bearing abundant fruit), unless of course, the hand of God is involved. I learned that, with God, all things are possible (Luke 1:26-38).
- Sr. Lisa Marie Shatynski, T.O.R.
