The Flight

Everyone has incidents in life that leave lasting impressions; as we reflect, we know that it was obviously the hand of God who protected us from inevitable harm or death. We do things every day that with just one mishap could mean injury or the end of our life. Every time we drive on the highways, we are only an arms length away from death, and we do not give it a second thought. It is only when we have a close call, that we wake up to the realization of what could have happened. When something does happen, it takes us by surprise. Perhaps there are also many things in life where the Lord just protects us, without us knowing anything about the danger which almost befell us. As I reflect over my life, I have a few such moments, where I know that God intervened and as a result, I am still here.
I intend to relate a few of these experiences, not for my glory, but for the glory of God. By reflection, and seeing the hand of God, I am reminded that He still has a purpose for me being here.
See Psalms 139

The flight was uneventful as our twin-engine turboprop slid across the darkened landscape of Ukraine. The time was around 9 p.m. and my friend and I were fixing to land at the Kharkov airport where we would meet our missionaries and spend a few days visiting our church members. This was May of 2021 and the full invasion of Ukraine by Russia had not been mobilized.
My friend and I were not able to get seats together, so he was about halfway back in the plane while I was a few rows from the front. To far apart to depend on his translating skills. This was not a big problem, as a former Russian missionary I was able to navigate the basics of the Russian language. Unfortunately, I do not speak Ukrainian, and am challenged with the accent when Ukrainians speak Russian.
Earlier in the evening we had taken off from Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, and switched planes in Kyiv for this last leg of our journey. I glanced out the window periodically to see the light reflecting off the spinning prop, as it sliced through the dark night air, dragging us toward our destination. My mind was on the events of the past few days spent in western Ukraine with our missionaries and small Ukrainian church as well as what the next few days would hold. I was enjoying the experience; it had been eleven years since I had been there and I was anxious to take it all in.
The passengers were sitting quietly in the darkened cabin, no doubt some catching their last-minute snoozes before meeting those who were waiting on the ground.
I noticed the aggressive whine of the props suddenly become almost silent, and I waited to hear what would happen next. I am unaccustomed to flying on prop planes, so the change in the sound caught my attention. The change was like the silence following the air-conditioner fan turning off during the night in a hotel room. Soon I decided it was the change of the pitch of the propeller, slowing the plane for our descent to the runway. For some reason this shift is something I always notice when flying, the signal that we will soon arrive at our destination. I do not particularly enjoy landing; I would much prefer taking off. There is something about the descent, seeing the landscape whipping past the windows that gives me a slight apprehension until our wheels finally touch down.
The quiet revery was broken by an explosion and shaking of the plane like I hope to never experience again. This is one of those times when you seem to hang in a space of slow-moving reality. My first thought was that “There went all our luggage!” It sounded as if a door on the bottom of the plane banged violently open spilling the contents of the belly out onto the dark landscape below. There was a gasp and excited murmur, as people began all talking while a stewardess came running up the isle to stand watching the propeller on the left side of the plane. She looked quite nervous but kept saying over and over that everything was okay. I ransacked my Russian vocabulary to the max trying to understand from the voices around me what was happening, but alas to no avail. Everyone was straining to see what the stewardess was looking at out the window. After the initial shock I came to the realization that we were not falling from the sky like I first suspected our fate would be. We think strange things at a time like this, and I found myself praying, and anxiously watching to see if the prop was still spinning with all it’s blades. It all happened so quick that there was no time to process reality or to be afraid, it was a surreal feeling. After a bit, we were able to comprehend that we still were in the air, and nothing seemed to be wrong, for the moment at least. The pilot conversed with the stewardess on the cabin phone, while she went to stand gazing out the left window. Evidently, he was concerned about something as well. We continued our descent touching down without further incident.
Everyone was a little shook up, including the stewardess, when we landed. The plane taxied to a stop somewhere out in the dark and rain. The captain said that due to inclement weather conditions, we would have to remain on the plane, waiting for the bus transportation to arrive.
The door to the cockpit opened and the captain strode out, heading for the door in the rear of the plane, while donning his hat and coat. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but he seemed a little apprehensive and nervous while talking quietly to the stewardess. We watched him walking around the plane, apparently looking for damage.
The lights remained off in the cabin until the captain return to the cockpit. Soon the bus arrived and we disembarked, hurrying through the rain to claim our luggage from the tarmac before boarding the waiting bus. My friend and I discussed the event while transporting to the terminal. From what he understood, and an incident he had been through before, we had encountered a lightning strike.
We related the events to the missionary as we crossed the wet parking lot, through the drizzling rain to the parked van. He recalled seeing a lightening strike in the direction we were coming from, at about the same time as we experience the explosion on board the plane.
We may never know exactly what happened that night over the dark Ukraine countryside. Some on the plane may have thought otherwise, but I tend to believe we got in the path of lightening. God was looking out for us that night, no question, it could have been our last flight. Thanks be to God for His wonderful care and protection.

7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8. If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10. Even there shall thy hand lead me, . thy right hand shall hold me.
11. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. Psalms 139:7-12