The "Faces of Strangers: #30" Story

Pastor Jamal Husain giving me his phone number.

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting at a table for four in the Miami International Airport trying to decide what to eat before we board our flight to Philadelphia.  I returned to the table with the personal pizzas to find another man sitting next to where I had planned sit.  No problem, since all the other tables were filled with customers.  I sat next to him while Carol went to fill up her soda cup.  Wasn’t long before I was talking to the man sitting next to me.  When Carol returned I told her our table guest was from Trinidad.  Traveling to a conference in Ohio for a few days.  Then I asked him what kind of conference and the next half hour was filled with some of the most interesting and unusual conversation we have experienced in quite some time.  Seems that our guest was 51 year old Pastor Jamal Husain and he was traveling to a Pentecostal conference.  He became a Pentecostal minister at the age of 18 after breaking away from his Muslim heritage.  He lives on the island of Trinidad where he has a parish of about 80 people as well as starting his own fried chicken stand five months ago.  Tells us he buys his chickens from locals.  This personable guy is a wealth of knowledge about just about anything … and everything.  We talked about the island of Trinidad and found out the average yearly wage is about $10,000 and that health care and education to the University level is free.  You only pay taxes after you reach the annual average wage and there are no property taxes.  Oil and natural gas foot the bill for just about everything in Trinidad.  Crime is a problem being they are only seven miles from Venezuela.  We got talking about sports and since Trinidad is British, Cricket is the big sport as well as futbol. The knowledge this man possesses is amazing as he tells us stories about all the neighboring islands.  Told us he loves to preach and within minutes he was giving us the story of the creation as explained in Genesis.  He is a skilled speaker and his British accent add interest to his preaching.  Then he begins to tell us what he feels about us and the love we hold for each other.  Tells me he can see in me passion and knowledge and the ability to share it with others.  Wow!  Carol told him I was a teacher for years and he smiled knowingly at me.  Then he mentioned the characteristics of love and compassion to Carol which brought a few tears to her eyes.  Guy’s amazing.  We talked more about the island of Trinidad and he tells us that they don’t have black people such as him, or people of any color for you see, they are all Trinis no matter what their color.  I asked if he had ever had taken classes in religion and he grabbed his briefcase to show us his documents and diplomas.  His extended family lives on Trinidad where he is married with two children and a two and a half year old grandchild.  He told us to make plans to visit Trinidad in the future and gave me his phone number so we can hear him preach.  Then Carol asked if he is an animated preacher and he acknowledged that he is.  She asked “Do you speak in tongues?”  “At times I do,” he replied.  “You don’t get involved with snakes do you," she asked.  “No, that language is filled with poison,” he said.  Well, the pastor checked his watch and realized his plane was ready to board soon, so we shook hands and parted ways.  As you see, airport waiting isn’t always boring!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an oridnary guy.