Let me first begin with a little background so that you can
see the complete picture.
Several days ago I went out to my truck to start it so that
I could drive to Kapeeka (the main village about 8 km from our house) in order
to try to buy some beef for supper. I went to the truck, put the key in,
and….nothing. The car would not start. After several attempts Tamra noticed
that smoke started coming from underneath the hood. It was clear that we
weren’t going anywhere. We were stranded.
I called the only mechanic I know (who was about a two hour
drive from our house) and explained the situation. Surprisingly, when I
explained to him what was happening, he realized that it was a wiring issue and
drove out to our house that evening to repair the issue. This was an
unbelievable blessing as we were supposed to drive 4 hours to Jinja the next
morning. He was able to repair the issue temporarily, but it would only remain
long enough for us to make our trip and have it permanently repaired upon our
return from Jinja.
On our return from Jinja we ran into some traffic and we had
three puppies with us which we had picked up in Jinja. (Two were ours and one
was for Pastor Johnson). Thus we decided it best to go ahead and go home, and I
would return to Kawempe to have the repair done the next day. It was only to
take 2-3 hours and so I planned on going for the morning and returning home
that afternoon. But that isn’t what happened.
I had agreed to meet the mechanic at the Tick Hotel in
Kawempe as it was a familiar place and I could reach it easily. It also had
WiFi so I could occupy myself while I waited for the repair to be completed. As I turned left into the Tick Hotel parking
lot, I heard (and felt) a huge crash into the left side of the vehicle. I
immediately knew what had happened. A Boda (motorcycle taxi) had crashed into
my truck. And this was no minor fender bender. He hit me hard!!!
I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotions and a slew of
voiced started rambling in my head. Every conversation I had been in with Ugandans
who had warned me to never exit my vehicle in a car accident, but to drive
immediately to the Police Station to make a report. The fear here is that mob
justice is very common here. I have seen it in various forms in my time here
and if you seriously hurt or kill someone, the police don’t usually arrive
before the mob has determined what justice should be and takes action. But I
had a problem. I was half-way in the street and half-way in the parking lot.
The Boda and the driver were underneath me. So I could not just drive away. If
I pulled forward or backward I would without a doubt run over the driver and
his motorcycle; and if he wasn’t seriously injured or dead now, he would be if
I tried to drive away.
So I was left with staying in the truck. But that also
presents a problem. The front doors on each side have a special anti-theft lock
to prevent people from breaking into the car through the keyhole, which is a
big problem with the stock lock and key that comes on the Toyota Land Cruiser.
This is great from the outside, but from the inside it’s a problem because you
can’t lock the doors from the inside – only from the outside – and my doors
were unlocked.
So my only option really, was to get out of the car and take
whatever came. Maybe I could get into the Tick Hotel and find some protection
from security or in an office if things got out of hand. In the truck I was
trapped but outside in the hotel parking lot I at least had a running chance.
People were already gathering around us and if I was going to get out under my
own control, it had to be now. So I opened the door and slid out of the seat. I
was petrified!!! I walked around the front of the truck, slipping between a few
onlookers, and just as I did it happened… the Boda driver stood up. And as soon
as he stood up he started shouting at me and blaming me for the whole incident
and pointing to his totaled motorcycle and the scrapes and cuts on his leg. He
must have thought I was mocking him or something because I could not remove the
smile from my face. I tried but I couldn’t. He was ALIVE!!! He was more than
alive, he was STANDING!!! He was yelling!!! It made me so happy and relieved
all at the same time.
I walked over to him and put my hand around his shoulder,
grabbing his other shoulder and pulling him into me. I looked directly into his
eyes and I said, “Are you okay?” He calmed a bit and pulled up his pants leg to
show me a little road rash and a small scrape on his shin. We walked into the
parking lot together and began to talk the situation over. I told him that I
was very happy that he was okay and that we would sort everything out together.
That seemed to really calm him down.
Just then, two of the hotel security guards, who had been
working the gate that day and who also saw the entire accident occur from start
to finish, surprisingly came to my aid. They explained to the driver that I was
ahead of him, my turn signal engaged and obviously blinking, and that he hit me
in the rear left section on the vehicle. They pointed out that it was clear
that I was there first, that I had indicated my intent to turn, and that he did
not yield to me. Instead, he tried to pass me before I made the turn. (Remember
that we drive on the left side here so I was turning directly into the parking
lot, not crossing traffic).
The Boda driver would hear none of it and demanded that I
fix his demolished motorcycle. Since
there was no damage to my truck (as The Beast held up beautifully) I offered
him twenty thousand shillings, which was more than enough to mend his road rash
and scrapes, but I refused to repair his bike as the fault was not mine. He
again refused and so I explained the situation again.
“I
was ahead of you. My turn signal was flashing indicating that I intended to
turn at the next available opening. This entrance was the next available
opening. You hit my vehicle in the left rear also indicating that I was in this
spot before you. Thus you should have yielded to me. However you did not. But I
want to help you if I can. So I offer you these twenty thousand shillings for
your injuries, but the bike you will have to repair yourself as it is your
responsibility. If you refuse to accept this, I must call the police and they
will sort it out. But you and I both know that if the police are involved, they
will tell me to pay you nothing and you will then get nothing. So please take
this twenty thousand and let the matter be resolved.”
He thought it over for a moment and bravely said to me,
“Make it thirty.” I agreed and the matter was resolved. I went inside the hotel
restaurant and waited for the mechanic as was my original purpose. But the
story isn’t over yet…
The mechanic arrived and we walked out to the truck. As we
did I told him of the events of the morning and as we looked at the truck, we
noticed the pool of fluid gathering underneath it. Apparently, when the
motorcycle slid under my truck, it struck the rear differential, causing it to
crack. Our only option was to replace the entire rear differential. This
equated to a total of 3.5 million shillings (roughly $1150). And the repair
would take more than a day to complete. So my there and back, relatively
inexpensive trip to Kawempe evolved into a very expensive overnight stay. But I
thank God that no one died and so the cost is what it is. I booked a room at a
cheaper hotel where I have stayed many times and spend the night.
The next morning around 9, I was watching CNN (I know I know
but it was the only news option available on the 3 channels the room has) when
the phone in my room rang. It was the man who works in the hotel restaurant
whom I had come to know over my many trips to Uganda. He asked me if I was very
busy, to which I said, “No.” He asked me if he could come to my room so that I
could pray for him. My answer was, “Of course.”
He came quickly and sat down on the couch. He began
explaining to me about how he has an ongoing problem. His salary is 100,000
shillings per month (this is approximately $35) and he can never seem to save
any money. Every time he gets anything extra and he thinks he can save it,
something happens and he has to spend it. (How interesting his timing
considering my very resent expense, not to mention the number of people in the
world that experience that same problem quite often). He remembered that a
Muslim made had stayed in a room there several months before. He was from Egypt
and upon his departure to the airport, had mistakenly left a bag in the room
containing over 27 million shillings. My friend was tempted, but decided not to
take any of it. He turned in into the reception area and left it at that. The
Muslim man sent someone to collect the bag and when my friend brought it to
him, the man told him that he should have taken the money and left and started
a new life. He was a fool for not doing so and because he failed to take this
opportunity, he was cursed to die a poor man. So my friend believes this curse
is the reason for his financial troubles.
Wow!!! Where to begin with this one? It seemed logical to
begin with Christ. I asked him if he believed in God to which he said he did. I
also asked him if he knew of Jesus. He said he did and so we began to talk of
him. We talked of Job and his sufferings, as well as Joseph and trials that he
endured. We talked of the cleansing blood of Christ and how acceptance of
Christ’s sacrifice cleanses us of our sin and gives us power over curses and
the designs of evil. I had an orange Fanta bottle that I drank ¾ of as well as
a bottle of water. “The Fanta represents sin” I said. I took some of the water
and poured it into the Fanta bottle. “No matter what we do and no matter how we
do it, I can never add enough water to this bottle to remove the Fanta. Likewise,
I cannot remove sin from my life. No matter how much I try to mask it or hide
it, the sin is still there. Then I took a new bottle of water. “But this new
bottle of water represents Christ. He is pure and clean and has no sin – He’s perfect.
God cannot accept the Fanta, the sin, because he is Holy and cannot accept sin.
But he can accept Christ because Christ is also Holy and without sin. And when
Jesus died on the cross all of the Fanta in the world was put on him. He
accepted it. And God separated himself from Christ. Jesus paid the price of
death for you and for me. Jesus paid for everything. So when God looks as us,
he doesn’t see any more Fanta. He sees only pure and clean water. He sees the
perfection of Christ. When we accept Jesus and his sacrifice, our Fanta is
purified by Christ’s blood and we are born again through Christ. We are all
clean and pure water in the eyes of God.”
I asked him if he wanted to accept the free gift of
salvation through Jesus and he said that he did. He said, “I want to be born
again.” We prayed together there in my hotel room, praying away all curses and
demonic oppression in his life. We prayed for protection from all the plans of
evil and we bound all evil and commanded it to leave in the name of Christ. We
prayed for the Holy Spirit to enter him and that God would be the center of his
life. What a morning!!! Praise God for car accidents!!!! Well….for this one
anyway.
We talked about baptism and he wanted to be baptized. Now
that presented another problem. There aren’t exactly any swimming pools,
bathtubs, rivers, or water tanks around from which he could be baptized. But I
didn’t want to let this opportunity slip away. Who knew when he might have the
chance to be baptized after I left? So I
began searching for options. But I was met with obstacle after obstacle. I was
basically told that we could drive to Lake Victoria, or wait until Easter when
there might be a baptism at Victory Living Word Church. But I wanted to do my
best to find a way, not just for him, but also for anyone else in the future.
By a stroke of luck (or divine intervention) my driver, who
was helping me get some things done while my car was being worked on,
remembered that there is actually a swimming pool several kilometers away and
that the charge to get into it is about 5,000 shillings. By the time I got this
information it was late in the day and too late for my friend to get away from
work (he works 7 days a week and meal times are his busiest times). So we
agreed that when I was back in town towards the weekend, we would go to that
pool and get baptized. What a story!!! What an experience!!! What a God!!!
Please pray for my friend as he begins his new walk with the
Lord.
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