This is probably going to be a longer post than normal...I don't even know where to begin. So much has happened lately that I feel like I should share with others. I admit part of it is my own fault - I haven't updated my blog for a while, so there is a few weeks to cover. But most of it has happened in the last four or five days, and I haven't had time to update, so I don't feel too guilty. :)
Anyways, in my last post, I mentioned that I finally got my South African driver's license! That meant I could start the whole process of searching for a car, which actually didn't take too long. Within a week, I had found the car that I wanted, and within ten days of getting my license (on June 3), I was the proud driver of a 2005 VW Vivo Polo (red, of course!).
That car could not have come at a better time. As some of you may know, this past weekend (June 7-9), we held a large conference at a camp 1 1/2 hours north of Durban. 110 Christian ladies from all over South Africa came to hear and learn about the need to reach M women, specifically in their own neighbourhoods.
The theme of the weekend was "Hope for the Hopeless", and right from the beginning it seem that arranging transport was going to be a hopeless task. A few of the ladies were able to drive themselves directly to the camp, but most came by either bus or plane into taxi. This meant we had to figure out how to get 95 ladies from Durban up to the camp (which is why my car also came in handy!). We also ended up hiring a bus and a 15-passenger taxi. Getting up to the camp, everything seemed to work out ok, although the bus did manage to get lost for an hour. But everyone made it to the camp eventually, tired and ready for the evening meal.
The whole weekend was filled with workshops, sessions, and times of sharing. It was so encouraging to me to see so many women passionate about sharing their faith with M friends. Some saw the need for it for the very first time, which was also extremely exciting.
Anyways, the weekend in general was really encouraging and moving, and I may or may not go into more detail about it at another time. We'll see how ambitious I am feeling.
Back to the issue of transport. The weekend was good, but then it ended and we needed to get people back to Durban, both to catch flights and to get on buses. Unfortunately, the bus and taxi that we had hired were late. Very late. I ended up taking three ladies in my car to the bus station because they were going to miss their bus if they didn't leave immediately. After dropping them off, I went home and was excited to sleep for a while, not realizing what else was happening. Shortly after getting home, I got a message asking me to fetch some ladies from a gas station and take them to their hotel for the night (their bus was leaving early, early the next morning and so they stayed the night in Durban). I was confused as to why they were at the gas station, but agreed and dropped them off as well. As I was driving home, another car and I collided.
To be honest, I don't even really know what happened. Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured. I am a little sore and have some small bruises, and I think the other driver has a bruised leg. But thankfully there was nobody else in our cars. I'll admit that I was in shock and don't really know what happened after either, but Cathy (my colleague who came) explained everything to me later and we both couldn't help but be amazed at how God provided and worked everything out.
Like I mentioned before, both the taxi and bus were late in picking up people from the camp. In fact, they were both over an hour late. This meant that by the time the taxi arrived, the people who needed to get onto flights first were shuttled onto it and left immediately. That wasn't our original plans of who was going onto the taxi, which is why those other ladies ended up being at a gas station. There were another five ladies who we had misunderstood their travel arrangements and ended up needing a ride back to Durban from the camp. That meant that even after the bus and taxi left, there were still sixteen ladies who needed to get back to Durban (plus all of their luggage and the decor and leftover food from the camp) that needed to fit into two cars. They soon realized that it just wasn't going to work, no matter how full they tried to fill their cars (and believe me, in South Africa you can fill cars VERY full!). Cathy ended up phoning Anand, a friend of ours whose wife was instrumental in helping to plan the camp. Anand came and picked up Cathy and two others who had volunteered to stay behind and wait.
It was on the way home that Cathy received the phone call from me saying that I had been in an accident. By that time, it was only her and Anand left in the vehicle and they came immediately to the scene and were there within 5-10 minutes. If I had phoned even one minute later, they would have passed the off-ramp they needed to take and would have had to take another 15-20 minutes to circle around. They arrived and Anand completely took over dealing with everyone. Anand is also the father of my insurance broker. He called him, and communicated everything that needed to happen and what order it needed to be done in. He talked to the police and figured out the tow truck.
Oh, the tow truck driver. I'm pretty sure he was an angel. And I am saying that with a completely straight face. He was one of the first people there, and just kept reassuring me, telling me not to talk to anybody, and that it was going to be ok. I have no idea whether or not he is a Christian, but I do know that God used him at that time to comfort me and make sure that I wasn't taken advantage of, in any way. And even the police officer. He was so kind - not gruff at all (like so many police here can be). Just simply said that anybody could get in an accident and don't worry about.
Eventually I went home...well to Dave and Cathy's home, where I spent the night. I've mentioned before how I have been so blessed to have so many people who want to take care of me here. And that was once again made obvious to me last night. As soon as Cathy heard about the accident, she messaged our prayer coordinator and all the ladies who had just been at the conference were informed and started praying for me.
There was another car that also broke down as we were transporting people in Duran as well. But once again, everything worked out so perfectly in the small details that I KNOW God was behind the small details. There was definitely spiritual warfare happening last night, but I fully believe that God was limiting the devil in what he could do to us. Everybody made it onto their bus or plane on time. Nobody was injured. The fact that Anand was with Cathy, and that they were so close by is a miracle.
I'll admit - this past weekend has been extremely long. And I am tired. But I have learned SO much. Both through the conference, and the things that happened after it. I have literally seen and felt the hand of God protecting me, seen Him multiply food, and met some amazing women.
I can't help but thank God. He is good, and He is in control, and He is mighty, and He is doing, and will continue to do, GREAT things in South African women. Amen.
Anyways, in my last post, I mentioned that I finally got my South African driver's license! That meant I could start the whole process of searching for a car, which actually didn't take too long. Within a week, I had found the car that I wanted, and within ten days of getting my license (on June 3), I was the proud driver of a 2005 VW Vivo Polo (red, of course!).
That car could not have come at a better time. As some of you may know, this past weekend (June 7-9), we held a large conference at a camp 1 1/2 hours north of Durban. 110 Christian ladies from all over South Africa came to hear and learn about the need to reach M women, specifically in their own neighbourhoods.
The theme of the weekend was "Hope for the Hopeless", and right from the beginning it seem that arranging transport was going to be a hopeless task. A few of the ladies were able to drive themselves directly to the camp, but most came by either bus or plane into taxi. This meant we had to figure out how to get 95 ladies from Durban up to the camp (which is why my car also came in handy!). We also ended up hiring a bus and a 15-passenger taxi. Getting up to the camp, everything seemed to work out ok, although the bus did manage to get lost for an hour. But everyone made it to the camp eventually, tired and ready for the evening meal.
The whole weekend was filled with workshops, sessions, and times of sharing. It was so encouraging to me to see so many women passionate about sharing their faith with M friends. Some saw the need for it for the very first time, which was also extremely exciting.
Anyways, the weekend in general was really encouraging and moving, and I may or may not go into more detail about it at another time. We'll see how ambitious I am feeling.
Back to the issue of transport. The weekend was good, but then it ended and we needed to get people back to Durban, both to catch flights and to get on buses. Unfortunately, the bus and taxi that we had hired were late. Very late. I ended up taking three ladies in my car to the bus station because they were going to miss their bus if they didn't leave immediately. After dropping them off, I went home and was excited to sleep for a while, not realizing what else was happening. Shortly after getting home, I got a message asking me to fetch some ladies from a gas station and take them to their hotel for the night (their bus was leaving early, early the next morning and so they stayed the night in Durban). I was confused as to why they were at the gas station, but agreed and dropped them off as well. As I was driving home, another car and I collided.
To be honest, I don't even really know what happened. Thankfully, nobody was seriously injured. I am a little sore and have some small bruises, and I think the other driver has a bruised leg. But thankfully there was nobody else in our cars. I'll admit that I was in shock and don't really know what happened after either, but Cathy (my colleague who came) explained everything to me later and we both couldn't help but be amazed at how God provided and worked everything out.
Like I mentioned before, both the taxi and bus were late in picking up people from the camp. In fact, they were both over an hour late. This meant that by the time the taxi arrived, the people who needed to get onto flights first were shuttled onto it and left immediately. That wasn't our original plans of who was going onto the taxi, which is why those other ladies ended up being at a gas station. There were another five ladies who we had misunderstood their travel arrangements and ended up needing a ride back to Durban from the camp. That meant that even after the bus and taxi left, there were still sixteen ladies who needed to get back to Durban (plus all of their luggage and the decor and leftover food from the camp) that needed to fit into two cars. They soon realized that it just wasn't going to work, no matter how full they tried to fill their cars (and believe me, in South Africa you can fill cars VERY full!). Cathy ended up phoning Anand, a friend of ours whose wife was instrumental in helping to plan the camp. Anand came and picked up Cathy and two others who had volunteered to stay behind and wait.
It was on the way home that Cathy received the phone call from me saying that I had been in an accident. By that time, it was only her and Anand left in the vehicle and they came immediately to the scene and were there within 5-10 minutes. If I had phoned even one minute later, they would have passed the off-ramp they needed to take and would have had to take another 15-20 minutes to circle around. They arrived and Anand completely took over dealing with everyone. Anand is also the father of my insurance broker. He called him, and communicated everything that needed to happen and what order it needed to be done in. He talked to the police and figured out the tow truck.
Oh, the tow truck driver. I'm pretty sure he was an angel. And I am saying that with a completely straight face. He was one of the first people there, and just kept reassuring me, telling me not to talk to anybody, and that it was going to be ok. I have no idea whether or not he is a Christian, but I do know that God used him at that time to comfort me and make sure that I wasn't taken advantage of, in any way. And even the police officer. He was so kind - not gruff at all (like so many police here can be). Just simply said that anybody could get in an accident and don't worry about.
Eventually I went home...well to Dave and Cathy's home, where I spent the night. I've mentioned before how I have been so blessed to have so many people who want to take care of me here. And that was once again made obvious to me last night. As soon as Cathy heard about the accident, she messaged our prayer coordinator and all the ladies who had just been at the conference were informed and started praying for me.
There was another car that also broke down as we were transporting people in Duran as well. But once again, everything worked out so perfectly in the small details that I KNOW God was behind the small details. There was definitely spiritual warfare happening last night, but I fully believe that God was limiting the devil in what he could do to us. Everybody made it onto their bus or plane on time. Nobody was injured. The fact that Anand was with Cathy, and that they were so close by is a miracle.
I'll admit - this past weekend has been extremely long. And I am tired. But I have learned SO much. Both through the conference, and the things that happened after it. I have literally seen and felt the hand of God protecting me, seen Him multiply food, and met some amazing women.
I can't help but thank God. He is good, and He is in control, and He is mighty, and He is doing, and will continue to do, GREAT things in South African women. Amen.
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