One lady who was not at services had arranged with me to come by the hotel and talk with me before 7am. So I’d set my alarm for early enough to be up, showered and ready for her. But when the alarm went off I discovered that sometime after 4 am she’d sent a note to say she would not make it. I rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep, but that wasn’t working, so I got up and started getting around.

Mr. Horchak was going down about 8:45 to settle his bill and have breakfast, so I joined him. Fresh fruit, freshly squeezed orange juice (no concentrate juice here!) and many other options are available for breakfast. When it was about time for Hakeem to come we returned to the hotel lobby to wait for him.

He called a few minutes after 9:30 saying he was just arriving. He apologized for being late, but when he went to start his car the battery was dead, so he had to get a jump before coming to get us. Very understandable, and we still have plenty of time. As it would turn out, we had LOTS of time!

There are three different domestic terminals in this airport (which is maybe a mile from the new international airport terminal). I’ve made the mistake of going to the wrong one before, so we double-checked that we were at the correct one, known as MM2, and we were. So we Hakeem left us, and will come to get us when we come back through late Tuesday afternoon on our return.

Both of our bags were under the maximum weight, but since I booked our tickets together they wanted to weigh our bag together – which made them just over the weight limit! So I have to pay an overage charge of 2,000 naira ($1.27) and bring back the receipt.

That’s when we noticed there was a change in our flight. Instead of leaving at 11:20 am, the new flight time is 1:30 pm. That means we have nearly 4 hours to kill in the airport. Wish I’d gotten an email notification or something, we could have been more comfortable in the hotel. But at least they didn’t move the flight time UP two hours so that we’d have missed it entirely! But now that I think about it, I’ve never yet experienced a time when they moved things up EARLIER…

I had brought an almost full bottle of water with me from the hotel, figuring I’d drink as much as I could before going through security. At the security screening I set it in the tray, and it went through and was waiting for me on the other side. So guess I get to drink the rest too!

I’ve seen a VIP lounge advertised here before, but my time was always short enough it made no sense. Now, with almost 4 hours to wait we decided to check into it. The entry fee for both of us was 10,000 naira ($6. 35) so we decided to opt for a/c, comfortable chairs and a complementary coffee or soft drink.

This delay is going to change the agenda for the rest of the day. If we’d gotten in at 12:30 as originally scheduled, we were going to meet with the two ILP couples and then go to a congregational Bible study. The delay means we are not going to have time to meet with the ILP couples today, and we might be pushed to even make it to Bible study on time! But since Mr. Horchak is going to conduct it, I rather doubt they’ll start without him… đŸ˜Š

After some further delays, we finally landed in Benin City, collected our bags and were leaving by about 3:50. Osas was there to meet us, as he always is, and he took us on over to the hotel. Fortunately it is only about 10 or 15 minutes to the hotel from the airport.

We had time to check in to our hotel, and I changed clothes while Osas waited, and then we piled back in his car for the trip to the new Church hall. On the map it is about 3.5 km away, but with traffic that can easily take 15 to 20 minutes. When we arrived most people were already there. Many smiles, hugs and handshakes awaited us!

I started out by giving some opening comments, and letting them know how much I have appreciated working with them for the last 8 years or so. I truly have learned a lot from them, and only hope I’ve been able to be of some help to them as well. We were 29 in number. 

Then I opened the study with prayer, and turned it over to Mr. Horchak. He gave the study on Christian Priorities, which is something always needful!

Afterward Osas said they had a presentation to make, and they brought out a couple of wrapped packages to give to me. One contained a carved staff. On the top my name is carved, and on two sides is “Thank You” carved in the Benin language and in the     language. I was told a staff is given when a person is being honored, and it is considered a very high gift. It was very touching!

The other package was a depiction of a fisherman pulling out a fish. I was told this is because God has made me a fisher of men. I tried to explain that they are my brothers and sisters and will always be in my heart, even though I will no longer be traveling over here. I will always treasure the memories and the friendships built during my time serving in West Africa.

When we got back to the hotel, the restaurant area was rather crowded (Sunday evening, and I suppose more people coming in than normal). I wanted to take my things up to the room before eating, but a fellow sitting in the lobby motioned me over. In a solidly British accent he asked if I had purchased the staff as a souvenir.  I told him no, it was given to me as a gift, since I’ve been coming here for many years and this is my last trip.

He said the staff is a symbol of honor. He married a Nigerian lady, and said he had one that was used in their wedding ceremony, and pulled up some photos on his phone. I asked how long they’ve been married, and he said 1 day – they were just married yesterday! His parents were with him as was his beaming bride.

I put my things in my room and then met Mr. Horchak downstairs for dinner – we both ordered battered fish and chips (French fries). Not authentic British Fish and Chips, but pretty good!