An Army of Yellow

What. A. Day. Our team has been awake for 20+ hours at this point, and it has been an incredible day filled with fellowship, sharing the Good News, and giving honor and glory to God. We met at the airport at 3:20AM, which meant a 2am wake up call for most of our team. Upon waking up this morning, we learned that our first flight was delayed. We could have seen this as a setback or an obstacle, but we chose to see it as an opportunity. An opportunity to slow down. An opportunity to connect with one another and the people around us. An opportunity to sit and reflect on all of the miracles that led to this moment. God went before us today, and it was evident at every turn. We prayed as a team while we waited for the Delta counter to open, and we got to fellowship before saying goodbye to family. When the Delta counter opened, one of the Delta agents noticed our bright yellow shirts and approached us to help us get checked in. We got every single one of our 29 bins (yes, twenty-nine) checked for FREE. That is amazing, and such a gift! 

Once we finished our check-in process, we walked to security. The line was short and the process was smooth! We made it through and had plenty of time to grab coffee and a bite to eat in Richmond before boarding our flight. Had our flight been on time, we wouldn’t have had ANY time to get food. We would have been running to our gate because of how long check-in took! God went before us. We boarded our flight out of Richmond for a departure time of 7am. The flight to Atlanta was smooth and quick. One of the flight attendants asked about our yellow shirts and wanted to know what we were up to. We got to tell her all about 28:19 Ministries and the work God has called us to. She was so excited to hear and ended up following us on Instagram! Shoutout Meagan – meeting you was a highlight of our day!

As we were approaching Atlanta, the pilot came over the speakers and announced that we would be landing at Gate E32. Well…guess where our flight to Belize was taking off from…E32! A wink from God to remind us that He is in every detail. With a shortened layover time from our first flight being delayed, being right at our gate upon arrival allowed us to rest and get food to refuel before the next leg of our journey. 

One of the most stressful parts of travel day is making sure all of our bins—packed with supplies for the week—arrive safely at our final destination. This time, since we were taking off from the same gate we landed at, we had a rare opportunity: we got to watch each of our 29 bins come off the plane and go right back on. It was such a relief to see them all accounted for, and to know with certainty that our supplies would make it to Belize with us. Another wink from God to remind us that He is in every detail.

Around 10:40 AM, we began boarding our final flight of the day! We made our way onto the plane and settled in for the three-hour journey from Atlanta to Belize. It was another smooth flight—and before we knew it, we were landing in Belize! We got off the plane and walked inside to one of the shortest Passport Control lines we’ve ever seen! All 23 of us made our way through and reunited at baggage claim where all 29 of our bins were waiting for us! The Customs process was smoother than ever, and I think we made it outside in record time. We were greeted by familiar faces—friends from Pomona! Even sweeter, they weren’t there for us; they just happened to be passing through to pick up guests for tours. It was such a fun surprise to cross paths! 

Our drivers came around to pick us up and help us load luggage into the trailers. Soon enough, we were on the road and heading south to our home for the week! We were on the road for just under two hours as we traveled down the Coastal Highway. We took in the sights of beautiful Belize and shared in sweet fellowship with one another and our driver. Around 2:25 PM (Belize time), we arrived at the hotel! We were welcomed by one of our team leaders and board members at 28:19, Madison. She’s been on the ground in Belize since June 10th, preparing for our arrival. It was such a sweet moment to finally reunite with her—and to be together as a FULL team, in-person, for the very first time!

We unloaded our bins using an assembly line and dropped our luggage in our rooms before heading upstairs for lunch. Miss Shirlene made us pizza for lunch along with sweet tea and orange juice. It was incredible and such a treat after a long day of travel! After lunch, we gathered for a welcome meeting where team members learned more about the hotel and got an overview of the different places we’ll be serving throughout the week. We took a moment to pause and realize that we were finally sitting in the very place we’ve spent the last six months preparing for. To everyone who attended our Spaghetti Dinner, bought sausage, sponsored a woman, donated to a team member, or shopped our yard sale—you made this possible. Your generosity and obedience are the reason this team is able to be here, together, ready to serve. Thank you.

After lunch, we had a couple hours to rest before dinner at 6pm. At 6pm, we gathered on the rooftop and watched the sunset as we ate dinner. We passed out “Go Bags” to every team member that’s full of essentials for the week — hydrocortisone cream, headache medicine, hand sanitizer, pepto, tissues, a loofah, a journal, a pen, and a bracelet that says “All for His Glory”. That’s our theme for this week—All for His Glory. 

For dinner, we had fried chicken, potatoes, salad, and homemade breadsticks along with sweet tea and orange juice. It was delicious! They even had a chocolate cake made for us, and it was the perfect sweet treat before going into our last activity of the day. 

Every day, we’ll end with team worship. We gather in the church next to the hotel for a time of worship and a short devotional together. Tonight, we sang “More than Able” and shared God moments from the day. Today’s God moments centered around the unity of our team and how our matching yellow shirts attracted attention everywhere we went. All day, in many different places, we found ourselves answering questions about who we were and what we were doing. After all, it’s not every day you see 23 people walking around in matching yellow shirts. We’ve been an army of yellow, unified in our mission to share the Good News. We’ve experienced encouragement at every turn from flight attendants, tour guides, and even perfect strangers.

God has gone before us, and we are so expectant for all He’s going to do this week. It’s an honor to serve alongside this team, and we’re ready to witness miracle after miracle—all for His glory.