Today is the day – the Ralstons are on their way.  We left for the airport at one this afternoon.  The drive went well and we arrived at JFK in Brooklyn at two thirty – almost six hours before the scheduled departure time for their flight.  The airlines had told us to be there by two fifty two so we were only twenty two minutes early according to their recommended arrival time.

As soon as the Ralstons got inside they were informed that the airlines would not even open for business until four twenty as that was four hours before departure time!  So we got some seriously poor information from the airlines.  How did they come up with such a precise number so massively off from reality?  Likely it was the Lord watching over us.  In this instance boredom is far better than panic.

We had a lot of standing around to do but no big deal.  Knowing that we were at the airport and that no traffic or vehicular problems were going to impede us now was a big deal and being there this early would wind up being very critical – but not until later.

When the airlines check-in and luggage desk finally opened we were, understandably, first in line.  But the second person in line had been there for at least an hour because of a long layover so we really were only first in line by a relatively small margin.  It turned out that they had several more pieces of luggage than were allowed.  Only four pieces per passenger are allowed.  This limit could be waved, and often would be, if the plane were not completely full – but it was.  So even the option of buying another ticket (and having me fly back over to Morocco with the luggage and fly right back we said half jokingly – luckily I had not brought my passport with me) to accommodate all of the luggage was out of the question.  Because we were the very first people in line and, probably, because we had been waiting for so long the nice woman at the counter decided to just accept the luggage.  So everything got to go!  What a blessing.

Getting eight hundred pounds of luggage moved around the airport was no easy task but everything got handed over to security and all that was left was for us to say out goodbyes and for the Ralstons to head over to the security checkpoint and begin their process of leaving their lives here behind.  No turning back now.  It is really happening.

The flight to Morocco will leave tonight at eight twenty and should arrive in Casablanca in seven and a half hours.  Then a five hour layover at the airport and back onto another plane for the eight and a half hour flight down to Brazzaville.  They are expected, with no delays which seem very likely, to arrive in Brazzaville around six tomorrow evening eastern time.  It will be a long time after that before we have contact with them as they have luggage, security and customs with which to deal before attempting to get to the missionary compound, get food, water, settled, Internet access, etc.