Chapter 18 - A White-Knuckle Ride

“I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence

cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord,
which made heaven and earth. . . . The Lord shall
preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this
time forth, and even for evermore.”

—Psalm 121:1–2, 8

The Lord had blessed and supplied all our needs,

enabling us to fly off to Ivory Coast to do His
will there. When we arrived at the Greensboro
airport, the plane was waiting for us. We quickly
checked our baggage and ran for the plane. It was a
very small plane, and we barely had enough room to

walk down the aisle. The seats were so close together

that you nearly sat on top of the person next to you.
Fortunately, no one in my family weighed much!
    We were all frightened, to say the least. We had
never seen the inside of a plane. We could not help
wondering if the small craft would even make it off
the ground. To make matters worse, the weather was
stormy. Do these things take off in a storm? I worriedly
thought. Well, I quickly got my answer when
they shut the door and started backing up the plane.
Amazed, I thought, It even has a reverse! My emotions
were running wild by now. The plane lurched
forward, picking up speed, and I hung on for dear
life. I grabbed hold of the seat in front of me and
never let go until we reached New York!
    Fortunately, the trip did not take long. I was so
happy when we touched ground in New York that
I could have kissed the floor of the airport when
we disembarked. I turned to Linda and confessed,
“Honey, this is the wildest ride I have ever been on.”
    She admitted she had been afraid and remarked,
“I kept thinking that if we went down, at least we
were all together.”
    The children had mixed reactions. Our daughter
Angie said, “Mom, I was scared to death we
wouldn’t make it. I do want to get married one day!”
However, Jr. and Joy were having the time of their
lives.
    I was having second thoughts by now about this
new adventure for the Lord. After getting off the
plane, we had no idea where to go or what to do.
All I knew was that we had another flight ahead. As
we were heading up the “gangplank,” as I called it,
a man approached and asked, “Are you the Ayers
family?”
    “Yes, we are,” I replied.
    “The plane is waiting for you. Come on; hurry,”
he instructed. So there we were—the five of us running
to get our luggage, check it in at a different
counter, and then make a mad dash for the plane.
With all the running around, we had no time to think
about having to get on another one of those contraptions
that fly in the air. You must remember that we
were from the country and had no experience with
planes.
    This time we were on a large plane. We could
actually walk down the isle without hitting our knees
on the seats. The seats were much bigger than the
ones on the previous plane. I remember thinking,
Now this is not so bad. But as soon as they closed
the door, claustrophobia set in but not as bad as last
time.
    The plane made its way onto the runway. I looked
out the window—a mistake—and saw lightning
everywhere. Surely, they will wait for a while to let
this storm pass, I thought. No sooner had I thought
that when somebody hit the accelerator and the big
bird shot off like a rocket. All of a sudden, we were
in the air again, headed straight into the thunder and
lightning. I was scared to death, and Linda looked
like she was in shock, but our children did not seem
to notice the storm at all.
    When the plane leveled off a bit and the flight
attendant offered us something to eat and drink, I
calmed down somewhat. This part was great, eating
and drinking way up in the air close to heaven
(where I thought we might go at any time). But I
did notice every sound the plane made. Whenever
it made an unfamiliar sound, I was certain we were
going down. Sometimes the plane would shake,
drop a little, and do other weird things, and my
nerves almost got the best of me.
    I bombarded the flight attendant with all kinds
of questions. She kindly observed, “I suppose this
is the first time for you to fly.”
    “Yes, it is,” I answered, “and if things don’t
change, I will not be flying anymore, because I am
about to have a nervous breakdown!” She tried her
best to calm me. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ve flown
for many years and have never had a problem.”
Thank goodness that reassured me a little but my
nerves were still unsettled.
    We had a long flight ahead of us. We finished our
meals and then to my dismay, the lights dimmed. I
almost had a stroke! “Where did the lights go?” I
desperately asked the attendant.
    “Several passengers will sleep now, and others
will watch a movie,” she patiently explained.
    “A movie?” I asked incredulously.
    “Yes,” she replied, “we’ll be showing two or
three movies on this flight.” Goodness, I thought,
a theater in the air! What more can a man ask for?
Nevertheless, I decided to try to sleep, thinking that
would help pass the time more quickly. I was unsuccessful
though, in that attempt. First of all, the plane
made too much noise, and secondly, I couldn’t
relax, fearing we were going to fall out of the sky
any moment. Not being able to sleep made for a
long flight.
    By this time, I needed to go to the restroom,
and headed toward the lighted sign. I entered what
seemed a small box; I could hardly turn around in
it; but managed to use the rest-room and wash my
hands, thinking all the while, Where does all this
stuff go?
    Approximately nine hours, we arrived in Belgium
and was feeling somewhat better now about these
flying machines. After waiting a while, we boarded
the next flight and headed for Ivory Coast. Since
we knew what to expect now, this flight was much
better. Plus, I continued to ask the Lord for His grace
and safety, which He freely gave.
    As we approached our final destination, we
looked out the window and saw nothing but a
coconut field. We were afraid we were going to
crash, but then the pavement came into view and
the big bird touched down. Before realizing it, the
pilot was slamming on the brakes, slowing us down
and coming to a stop.
    We wondered where the “gangplank” was, but
when looking out the window, we saw men rolling
steps to the front and rear doors. As they opened
the doors of the plane, the heat rushed in like heat
from a gigantic heater. We exited the plane, and my
daughter commented to Linda, “Mom, it is so hot
here we will never be able to play outside.”
    We were in Ivory Coast. Thanking the Lord for
the safe flight!