Open Doors and a little bit of difficulty closing a door

Yesterday I flew four passengers up to Yida, in the north of the country, for Open Doors. I really enjoy flying for organisations like Open Doors as they are so clearly involved in spreading the Gospel and building up Christians in areas where it is not easy for Christians to live.

I took two pax out of Juba in the morning, leaving one in Yei and collecting another 3, before the long 2.5 hour flight up to Yida. We were also able to carry half a ton of freight for the team which included sacks of sugar and flour and other food items.

Open Doors team in Yei

In Yida there were a lot of people crowding around the aeroplane and a lot of requests to fly down to Juba, something we get quite often in some of the places we fly. Open Doors requested us to carry one couple, but the answer for all the others had to be 'no'.

As the two authorised passengers boarded the aircraft another man in military uniform tried to follow them onto the plane, and I had to place myself in his way to stop him climbing the stairs. He was very determined and refused to take his foot off the bottom step, although I was telling him that he was not allowed on board the aircraft. After a very short and slightly comical standoff I physically removed his foot from the step so that I could close the door, after which he placed a hand on the step as I lifted it. Fortunately he did not resist further when I moved his hand and finally closed the door and we could get going back to Juba...