Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Strictly from a travellers perspective the three days of travel involved in getting to Ukraine could aptly be sumrised in a single word. “Nightmare”. The sheer length of the journey would be enough to unsettle all but the most seasoned travellers, however this is not the deciding factor in my less than fond memory. As many of you know, because I decided to accompany the team to Ukraine late, I was required to fly separately. This conveniently coincided with my need to quickly return to England and pick up some winter clothes I left there. The chaos truly began with missing my pre-paid National Express bus from London Heathrow to Coventry and catching the next best thing which was a bus going to Birmingham (Thirty minutes away). This really was a problem because I had pre-arranged for friends to pick me up in Coventry that morning, and what made matters worse – I had no way of contacting them. So while I was on the bus to Birmingham, my friends waited in confusion at the Coventry bus station. Once I arrived in Birmingham I was given directions to the train station – thinking that that was the best way to arrive in Nuneaton the quickest. The bus station was a mile or so away, up hill. So I dragged my massive suitcase, camera, and laptop uphill over cobblestone streets for the next fifteen to twenty minutes, caught an expensive last-minute train and once it arrived paid for an even more pricy taxi. Thankfully I had a great time catching up with friends at the Kings Lodge (a YWAM Base in England) and visiting our favorite local pub. In the morning however, we had a slow start and were seriously worried about missing my bus back to London, but made it in the end. Now this is where the real drama begins. When I arrived in London I had less than two hours to check in, pass through security, and board the plane. Which is one hour less than is advised for international travel. So I get into the terminal and start looking for a sign that will tell me where the Ukrainian International Airline planes check in. So I find a sign and look it over. No Ukrainian Airlines. I check again, still no Ukrainian Airlines. I ask at the information center and lo and behold he tells me that Ukrainian Airlines flies out of Gatwick Airport over one hour bus ride away! So I rush back to the bus station and try to book a ticket on the next bus to Gatwick through their self-serve computers. It won’t take my credit card. I now have less than ten minutes to get a ticket to get on the next bus, and they leave every half hour. If I don’t get on the next bus, I will miss my flight. There is a long line for the ticket counter, so I join anyway. The clock is ticking. Five minutes left. Beginning to panic, I start explaining my situation to others in the cue and requesting to jump ahead of them. Finally, I make it to the front and purchase my ticket three minutes before the bus leaves. I charge out to the platform and make the bus exactly when it was scheduled to leave. I then spend the next hour and fifteen minutes praying and trying not to panic.  In any case, I make it to Gatwick with fifty minutes till my flight leaves, check-in, spend a ridiculous amount of time paying for a little overweight luggage, go through security and board my plane. This story is slightly humiliating to admit for someone who has travelled as much as I. It seems I’ve become overconfident when it comes to traveling… It has now been four planes, three shuttles, two trains, three buses, and one taxi later and I am finally in Ukraine. Upon arrival the team spent a few days in Kiev and taught the DTS and YWAM staff there an Overview of the Old Testament and we are currently teaching a week long Bible Overview series in the Ternopyl DTS. I am more than happy to be avoiding any plane’s, trains, and automobiles for the moment. Cheers,

Joshua