After receiving a deadline extension from the travel agency, my faith was refreshed and further encouraged as the second round of checks came in over the next two weeks. But as November 19th approached only $1,100 more had been provided, leaving me still $2,400 short of the total trip amount. I was certain that the travel agency could not make special accommodations twice, so I decided that I would call to cancel my reservation completely. This time, I wasn’t just reluctant and a little bit worried as I had been before. I was mad, and mostly at God for feeling as though He’d led me into an amazing opportunity only to see it fall through.
The Lord was gracious to me, and mercifully redirected my irritated complaints for His 'lack of provision' as I phoned the travel agency. I explained that I simply did not have the money that I’d expected to receive and told the agent that I believed I would need to cancel my trip reservation, to which she replied, “It’s ok if you still don’t have the full amount! At Dehoney, we like to see that all of our customers get to travel, so just send us what you have this time and we’ll go from there.”
Since travel agencies are a money making business, it seems highly unlikely that they would offer a travel spot to a girl without sufficient funds -- TWICE. I was once again reassured of the Lord’s hand over my trip plans. Despite my lack of faith, and even an impatient and questioning heart, He remained faithful.
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Timothy 2:11-13)
Praise God for His promises. To me, the Lord did remain faithful! Over the next couple of weeks, the entire trip fund was paid in full by friends and supporters. With only $315 more to go, I had one last freak-out moment knowing that my contact resources for more funds had been completely exhausted. At the last minute, I received more checks in the mail, one from a person I have still never met. The total equaled $316 exactly, and in God’s perfect timing and sovereignty my trip was paid off!
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This trip not only fulfilled a life-long dream of mine to visit the Holy Land, the experience I received through a study abroad program far surpassed any sight-seeing trip to the Near East I could have joined on my own. Having the option to travel with an authentic archaeologist from my own university allowed for a rich and unique environment of hands-on learning that simply cannot be matched in the classroom. With a traveling group of 45 people, including 6 study abroad participants, Dr. Wyrick focused on developing and maintaining personal relationships with each of his student travelers before, during and after the tour, which is the trademark of a Mary Hardin-Baylor education. I’m confident that I gleaned more knowledge through this tour experience than I could have hoped to retain from any 16-week course. Study abroad opportunities should be utilized by every student!
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