Ready to Fly

I did not think I would come to this day at the end of 2022 that I would be ready to fly in a couple of hours. Exactly two years ago, in our leaders' church group, I told two deacons when they asked that I would seriously consider getting vaccinated (Sinopharm) if I needed to fly at the end of 2022. Two years on, the world has changed. The pandemic is all but over except in China. Most people either vaccinated or not, have been infected with Covid-19, at least with the Omicron variant and they have developed immunity against the disease. And again I praise God that for three and a half years (Nov 2018-April 2022) which is a biblical period of testing and suffering, I was kept away from harm's way and I was at the pink of health, never sick during those trying times. God keeps the righteous from evil and the pestilence He drove far away. Now I am ready to fly for ministry, of course.

First, my niece's wedding and it has been more than a decade since I saw any of my cousins except one whom I had stayed in contact. He is my elder cousin and his sister, my younger cousin, just a month younger than me and it is her daughter who is getting married. My cousins were close to me during my growing up years and when she called me to extend her invitation, we spoke on the phone for three-quarters of an hour. We have not seen each other for 20 years! I don't remember speaking on the phone for anything more than 10 minutes at a time. But my upcoming ministry is two-fold. I had planned to sell my books in the East Coast of Sabah and today, God willing I shall begin to do just that. Then, as New Year's Day falls on Sunday, I shall be speaking in one of the churches with the theme, "Becoming (transformed) like Christ" (2 Cor 3). I hope to meet with a couple more church leaders tomorrow as I brought about 15 copies of John's Gospel commentary with me. Only a few copies of my Galatians are in stock. And finally, I plan to meet with one or two of my former class-mates and per chance we can plan for our reunion next year when my schoolmates would turn 60 and I, 59.