My first day in Australia

Psalm 37:3-4; Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

My first international flight!

It started on October 31, 1984! After five months and a half of going back and forth to the Australian embassy in Manila to have my immigration papers processed, the day of our departure from Manila to Sydney finally arrived, hallelujahs! When I heard the call for the passengers to board our Qantas flight my heart was pounding with excitement and trepidation. I was excited to start a new life with my new husband and our baby which was due in a few months. But, not knowing what our future was going to be like was terrifying, especially for someone who had only become a Christian five months previously. My walk of faith in Christ was literally at newborn stage. I was totally dependant upon my husband’s assurance that God is with us; that God will bless and guide us in every step that we take as a married couple.

But the truth is, I was wondering what kind of reception I was going to face in Australia at every stage of our new life together? The spirits of low self esteem, vulnerability and fear were harassing me! Where were we going to live and raise our baby? What future will I have in this foreign country knowing that my husband did not own anything except his bag of clothes and a bag of Bibles? I did not know anyone; would his first family and his friends who knew of my existence, accept me? Would they like me in person and be my friends too? I now know that wondering is a waste of time and a drain on the emotions, but the best way was to take everything to God in prayer, for He knew all about it! So, I held my husband’s hand for comfort and assurance knowing that that God knew my thoughts and his thoughts are higher than mine (Isaiah 55:9) God then reminded me of his promises in Psalm 37:3 & 4, Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shall thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. After hearing these promises, His peace descended into my heart and I knew ALL would be well! I have since learnt over the years that it is much better to wholly trust in God before trusting anybody.

As we walked through the aisle to find our allocated seats, my eyes widened to see how big the aircraft was. With so many people in front and behind us, and folks settling into their seats, others putting their hand luggage into the compartments above, and helpful, friendly crew, I was impressed. One crew member directed my husband to our seats which were located near one of the exit doors, more room to stretch out our legs and with a spare seat as well, so we praised the Lord for these blessings. Then, as I was having trouble putting my seat belt on as required and not being able to adjust it to fit, I felt overwhelmed but thankfully my husband saw how I felt and he helped me.

After a while, the plane’s engines started, the chatters and commotion inside the cabin had decreased and the crew at certain points of the aisles were showing the routine emergency procedures. In my head I prayed, “please God may there be no emergency on this flight!” I could feel the plane starting to move, then gradually getting faster and faster down the runway, my heartbeats synchronised with the speed, and I thought, well, this is it, I cannot get off now, just surrender to the Lord and enjoy the trip. As the plane ascended up higher and higher I looked out the window and I was in awe of the sight of the city lights, I had never seen anything like it before! I watched it until I could not see it anymore and went to sleep.

Australia the land down under!

I woke up just before the plane started descending into Sydney international airport. I excitedly opened the window blinds a little to look out the window. My eyes were met with the glistening sky as the sun rose from the horizon. What an awesome sight! Breakfast was served before the plane started descending and a few minutes after 6am we got off the plane. Sydney International Airport was very busy and huge! People were coming and going. It felt like I was dreaming and I kept pinching myself to make sure it was real. After we cleared customs my husband enquired at the information desk as to where he could find the nearest Commonwealth Bank of Australia branch, as he needed to withdraw money for our journey to Queensland where we planned to settle. The lovely lady at the desk informed my husband that the nearest branch was at the domestic airport.

The truth is, we did have a dilemma on our hands because before we left our accomodation in Manila, my husband’s wallet was missing with his CBA card in it and to withdraw money from a bank he would need his bank card to do so. I had no idea how he was going to do it except his faith in God for favour. After hearing my husband’s story about his wallet and the fact that we did not have any Australian dollars in our pockets, she then arranged for us to go on the shuttle bus that would take us to the domestic airport and she showed us where to wait for it. We thanked her very much and we waited for the bus. We were full of gratitude to God for the free transport provided and for the lady’s kindness.

God is omnipresent and omnipotent!

When we arrived at the domestic airport we discovered that the bank was a few hundred meters from the bus stop, so we staggered down with our luggage, it was freezing and very windy. Imagine, my then fifty year old husband and a five months pregnant twenty-one year old me, (do the math to figure our age difference) who were walking down the road with this inclement weather, I think our luggage and bags kept our feet on the ground. I have never shivered like that in my life! We finally reached the bank. It was a smaller building on its own, so warm and I could not see other customers inside as we must have been their first customers. My husband walked up to the counter where the available teller was. He retold his ordeal about his wallet besides telling her that we had just arrived from overseas and that we needed money. By the look on her face this scenario was foreign to her. She called the bank manager on the internal phone and informed him of our dilemma.

The bank manager dutifully came out from his office, greeted us nicely but we must have looked terrible for the bank manager to offer us some refreshments or God told him! He asked my husband what he would like to drink? My husband replied thankfully that he would love a cup of hot white tea but no sugar and I followed with a desire for water or juice if they had it. In my head, I thought wow, all banks in Australia served drinks too? Well, of course not, that was a one-off favour from a bank and I will never forget it. I was observing the mighty hand of God working through the bank manager, the lady at the information desk at Sydney International Airport to meet our needs at that time. He was confirming what He impressed in my heart as I was boarding our flight the night before in Psalm 37:3.

Meanwhile my husband continued to clarify our situation to the bank manager while we were having our drinks. The manager then phoned the Queensland branch manager where my husband’s account was established and informed him of his return. He then handed the phone to my husband as the manager in Queensland would like to verify that it was him. They spoke for a few minutes as well as telling my husband to relay his messages of welcome and best wishes of my new life before my husband handed back the phone to the manager, and after a few words he hung up. The manager then instructed the teller to do the transactions for us. By the time we finished our drinks, my husband had received enough Australian dollars for us to resume our journey. We thanked them very much for their kindness and assistance and followed their direction to the nearest bus stop for the bus to Sydney’s central station. While I was sitting next to my husband on the bus, looking out of the window my mind was blown away! Again I was pinching myself to see if everything that had unfolded so far was real! I was in a new world, totally different to where I had grown up for twenty-one years.

God’s favour was present at Sydney Central Station

We finally arrived at central station, we joined the queue to buy our tickets to Queensland. My husband asked for two sleeper tickets and was informed that the train was fully booked. He pleaded with the ticket seller to check if there was any cancellation. Again, God’s favour descended, the man was so surprised that there was a sleeper that had just been cancelled! After confirming the cancellation he asked for our personal details then proceeded to book it for us. My husband asked the ticket seller if he could have concession price but he couldn’t show him his pension card because it was lost with the wallet in Manila. The reply was, “its okay sir, there’s a promotion going on today of two tickets for the price of one!” How amazing was that? Once we had the tickets in our hands, we put our luggage safely in the hired locker and headed to the cafe at the station for lunch. The train was scheduled for 8:30pm departure so we decided to explore Sydney for the afternoon. My husband took me to Kings Cross fountains, then we took a ferry ride to Manly, and had a glimpse of the iconic opera house. We bought some apples at Manly while we were sightseeing and I had my first taste of one of them on our way back on the ferry. We got back to Central Station after we had dinner at one of the local cafes and were both very tired by this time. We were ready to settle down for the night on the train. Oh, what a day!

Dear reader, you might think that what happened to us were just coincidences; that God had nothing to do with the favours we received. The truth is, you are entitled to what you believe in life, and I am too. God is a good God, he is a miracle-working God, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE IN HIS HANDS. From everything that had happened on my first day in Australia, my faith in God rose exponentially. Throughout the five months and a half that my husband was in the Philippines with me or even before knowing him, many more blessings have been received which I will share in my future blogs. God is very real and he can be to you too, if you just open your heart to him and put your trust in Him. I believed that the Holy Bible is the only true resource we have on this earth to get to know God as our loving Heavenly Father. You may not have an earthly father at the moment but just know that your Heavenly Father loves you. Perhaps your relationship with your earthly father or mother is broken, I encourage you to get to know Father God and he will help you restore your relationship with your earthly father, mother, relatives, friends, associates or anyone with his everlasting love.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man or woman of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.