10th August 2025
I’m thankful that this morning was a casual morning. I had packed the night before, managing to stuff most of my clothes in a carry-on bag so I could take some items meant for some of the brethren. Lena even helped me pack more efficiently. And yet I found myself going back and making sure I had everything. About an hour before leaving, I went back and repacked one of my bags just to make sure. I guess I had time to overthink since Derek and I weren’t scheduled to leave until the evening.
After most of the day was over, I said goodbye to Lena and grabbed by bags from the trunk of the car. I handed over my luggage with the exception of my backpack. There would be no more repacking. Whatever I had would have to be enough. I made my way through security, following the signs for the accurate gate number which had been changed several times throughout the day. I had only hoped Derek had seen the notification too. He had flown into Newark from Dallas and should have already been in the same terminal by now.
As I approached the gate for our flight, I happened to look over to my right. There was Derek who had looked up and spotted me at the same time. Since we still had some time before our departure, we grabbed a meal, chatted about the brethren we both know in Zimbabwe and elsewhere, and decided to take a walk. He mentioned he still needed to get his steps in for the day. Plus this would be our last chance to walk around for about the next 20 hours.
As we walked we discussed our travels in Zim. As we discussed Derek described the day he and his parents left the country, headed for South Africa, wondering if they would make it out alive. It was a very tense moment that had stayed with him all these years later. He’s since been back for visits to the Zimbabwe side of Victoria Falls for the Feast of Tabernacles but this trip will be Derek’s first visit back to many other places. We might even travel on some roads he’s never been on before, seeing parts of the country he has never seen. It will be a chance to retrace his steps, to recall some old memories, but also to make some new ones.
We must have walked through the concourse for miles, going in circles past the same people waiting in the same lines. We walked until it was our turn to wait in line. By the time we were all loaded in, it was already technically the next day in Johannesburg where our first stop will be. A flight attendant announced that our flight was completely full but somehow there was no third passenger sitting in our row. What a blessing to start our journey with some extra space, a couple of hot meals (the shepherds pie on the flight was actually pretty tasty), and fifteen hours resting our feet after all that walking.
-Lewis VanAusdle
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