When God asks you to go somewhere, you go. Or you don’t. Anyone know the story of Jonah in the Bible (Jonah 1-4)? Obeying God often requires sacrifice. Sacrifice looks different for everyone. For example, I don’t mind living in a 257 square foot ship cabin with a 6 square foot size shower where the shower curtain clings to my legs. My favorite foods from home, shopping access, cooler weather, changing seasons, access to a car, my garden, or my own home, are not essentials for me. I sometimes dislike sweating, but it’s not really that big of a deal for me. My parents raised me with roots and wings, as I’ve heard my mom describe to people over the years. Does that mean I don’t care about family bonds, friendships, or my job in the USA? Not at all, but as great as those things are, they are not imperative for me. For others, sacrificing those things and relationships would be terribly difficult and unthinkable.
Dustin has been faithful in following God’s lead to temporarily leave behind the electrical business he has been growing. Dustin has left the comfort of our home in Idaho. Dustin has left the church family he has been a part of since he moved out on his own after college graduation. Dustin has left his parents and siblings. Dustin has left the food he loves. Dustin has left the routine he enjoys and the familiarity of life in Idaho. Dustin will miss a hunting season. Those things and relationships were on the forefront of his mind when we discussed leaving for Africa. I assumed those were the things he missed most.
I just asked Dustin what he felt he has sacrificed to be here, volunteering as an electrician with Mercy Ships, so that others may have hope and experience healing. Dustin’s first response, “Pepsi!” I knew that was something he missed, but I sure thought he would talk about leaving our house and business first. And apparently, for today, Dustin has a LOT of thoughts. He just informed me:
“I miss carpet, my high arches aren’t a fan of hard wood floors” (there used to be a thin carpet in the cabins years ago, but now it’s a faux wood floor, which is far easier to clean and sanitize).
“I miss air temperatures I can control, our own thermostat.”
“I miss a full-size refrigerator and freezer.”
“I miss a decent sized shower and being able to shower longer than 2 minutes” (water is a scarce resource on a ship, you cannot take a 20-minute shower as you may like at home. We are expected to “ship shower.” Get wet, turn the water off, shampoo, lather, soap up, rinse with water, turn the water off, apply conditioner, turn the water off, and rinse again. I joked with Dustin that he can take a 20-minute shower, it’s just the water can only be running 2 minutes during that time frame. He was not impressed).
“I miss being able to do laundry whenever I want” (we are each allowed one, 1-hour load a week here. The machines are front loaders and small).
“I miss thicker walls between neighbors” (We’ve never lived in an apartment, but we share all the wall-bulkheads with our neighbors now. We can hear our dear neighbor coughing and have been praying for her the past few days, we hear another neighbor snoring).
“I miss our bedroom and kitchen on the same floor” (We live on deck 4, the dining hall is on deck 5, and if we want to cook for ourselves with a few basic ingredients we can buy from the ship shop, or items we find in town, the crew galley is on deck 6).
“I miss real cinnamon rolls” (Dustin did not think what was labeled a cinnamon roll in the dining hall was a cinnamon roll. To be fair, it was very different from anything we may label as a cinnamon roll in the USA. It tasted lovely, I believe it had cashews in it and I did not taste the cinnamon in it at all).
“I miss Pizza Hut Pizza.”
But, at the forefront in his mind is missing his “drug of choice,” Pepsi.
Before taking on this adventure together, Dustin and I discussed that in my world travels to over at least 38 countries, there’s rarely been a Pepsi sighting. In 2004, I was on a mission trip in the jungle in Guatemala where there was no electricity, running water, or access to medical care or supplies. Yet, out of nowhere, peeking out from beyond the canopy of green jungle vines, I saw a giant red semi-truck with the familiar Coca Cola logo floating down the river on a barge. In some of the most remote locations in the world, some would call; ‘God forsaken corners of the earth,’ out of nowhere appears Coca Cola. But, rarely, if ever, have I seen the elusive, Pepsi species.
Dustin is serious about Pepsi. He has a shirt that reads “in case of emergency, my blood type is Pepsi.” Before leaving Seattle for Dubai, we purchased two, 20-ounce Pepsi bottles from the vending machine to last Dustin on his travels. He drank one before we left Seattle. But, to our surprise, we had a Pepsi sighting on our flight from Seattle to Dubai! Dustin didn’t have to break into his precious reserve on that 14 hour plus flight. We were pleasantly astonished to have another Pepsi sighting on the airplane from Dubai to the Seychelles and on the flight from the Seychelles to Madagascar! We entirely forgot about the other Pepsi bottle in my carry on until we landed in Madagascar. We have no idea how that 20-ounce bottle somehow passed, unnoticed, through the security screening of my backpack in Dubai! Dustin was thrilled to have a Pepsi in Madagascar with him.
When I was up at 3:30am standing on the bed, eating pizza, and singing “the Song of the Cebu” I put the stowaway Pepsi in the little hotel fridge for Dustin. Hours after we had checked out of our hotel room Dustin asked for his Pepsi. At that moment I was horrified, I had put the Pepsi in the fridge for him and forgotten. I lost his beloved Pepsi. We were still at the hotel, but I knew the room had been cleaned for the next guest. With little faith, I approached the hotel receptionist and informed them we left a Pepsi in the fridge and wondered if it was possibly still there. Against all odds, the hotel staff found our Pepsi unopened and still in the fridge!
Our Pepsi sightings and the unexpected reunion with Dustin’s stowaway Pepsi were “extraordinary and welcome events,” for Dustin, “that are not explicable by natural or scientific laws and are therefore attributed to a divine agency” which Oxford dictionary via Google, defines as a miracle. It might be a stretch for some to relate these events with Pepsi to a miracle, but not too big of a stretch for God, who is attentive to every detail and delights in giving gifts to his children (Matthew 7:11). Dustin thanks God for his Pepsi miracles.
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