Later when I met Ps Albert in person, he explained to me that John had been infected with chicken pox just a few days before their departure and was recovering. When they were about to board their plane in Sandakan, one of the airline officers noticed spots on John's skin and prevented him from taking the flight. The mother and the sister had to stay back with him and AirAsia agreed to let them fly another day without extra charge.
It was very dramatic. But thank God that the relatives who were seeing them off had not left the airport. So, Hanny and the children were able to follow them back with all their luggage and stay in their house temporarily while waiting for their next flight. They also managed to inform Ps Albert before he started driving to LCCT to pick them.
None of them knew when exactly they could come here. All depended on John's condition and the available seats. After John had been fully recovered, they went to the airport, which was not too far from their relatives' house, almost every day to check if they had a chance to fly. Sometimes, only two vacant seats were offered and all of them had to go back with disappointment.
It was not easy to get tickets for the year-end school holidays, let alone one week before Christmas. But on 23 December, God did a miracle by giving them three available seats during the peak season! They were finally able to be reunited with Ps Albert, Mark and Sarah.
Instead of my original plan to invite them during Christmas times, I made it on the New Year night so that they would have had enough time to settle down. VC was my assistant cook that evening. We prepared fried wontons, chicken nuggets, a meat-ball dish and a vegetable soup.
After the dinner, we watched a film on DVD that was suitable for a pastor's family members --
Evan Almighty!
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