The Vehicle Stops, but God Doesn’t!

This is a perfect example of how God uses every opportunity when we make ourselves available to Him. Last week, we were racing along the road to a medical training event to be held in one of the IDP camps. Suddenly, we noticed smoke pouring out of the vehicle’s tape player, and eventually the entire engine. Slowly, our truck rolled to a stop on the side of the road. Our radiator was broken and spewing coolant all over the engine. Thankfully, our resourceful driver Okelli knew what to do. We pushed the truck about ½-mile to a nearby stream where we used water to cool down the engine. He then had to take the radiator out of the engine and back into town to get it fixed. By the time we were on our way again, we had waited on the side of the road for over two hours. Wasted time? Not at all!

The place where we stopped was a local watering hole used by many local women to wash their clothes and gather water for cooking. Our nurse, Becky, seized this opportunity to serve. Greeting them with an “apoyo,” she asked if she could help wash their clothes for them. Although hesitant at first, one of the old women eventually agreed. Within minutes, Becky was kneeling on the ground, hand-washing an old woman’s clothes for her. It wasn’t long before this relatively strange activity drew a crowd of interested youngsters, eager to see what this white person was doing.

But that’s not the end of the story. God opened up the door for Becky to talk to these women about the person of Jesus Christ. Our pastor Walter soon joined in the conversation, laying out the gospel and dialoguing with them. Before I was really aware of it, an evangelistic meeting had begun. By the time it was over, a young child had accepted Christ as Lord! Praise God! He is never wasteful. I shouldn’t be surprised, though, because that’s just how creative God is when we give ourselves fully to Him!