Tonga!

I called the Forsyths, the senior couple in Vava’u, on Tuesday the 20th to see if their children had made it safely home. “NO!!” They were forced to fly on the new plane because there is no other way off of the island. Their plane was to leave Vava’u at 4:00 on Monday so they arrived at the airport at 2:45 to check in. The plane had taken off early --- WITHOUT THEM!! There are 8 of them! No phone calls, no explainations, they had simply missed the plane. The next flight did not leave until Tuesday morning, which meant they missed their connecting flight to America. When I talked to Sister Forsyth she was a wreck. They were sitting at the airport waiting for the plane to arrive. It had started out from Tonga in the morning, but had turned around because of heavy rain. ( It is a big plane, capable of flying in heavy rain, but it is being flown by inexperienced pilots). She said that if the plane was not able to pick them up and get them into Tonga by 4:00 in the afternoon, they would miss their connecting flights again and the next flights out would be on SATURDAY!!
Good news, the plane went back to Vava’u, they made their flight and arrived safely in Tonga just in time to make their connecting flight to Fiji. They are now safely home. Whew---- When I talked to Sister Forsyth again she was ready to collapse. That was quite a strain on her, knowing she was putting all of her children in a plane that the church has told us not to fly on. They had no choice, so they prayed together as a family and put their trust in the Lord. From now on they won’t fly in it.