"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase"
1 Corinthians 3:6
A Message From the Horne of Africa
Where was My Guardian Angel?
8/30/2009
It happened just after dawn on a clear day in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) many years ago. I was descending the Great North Road towards the tsetse-fly control center several miles north of the village of Sinoia. Suddenly, the left back wheel—lock, stock and barrel—slipped off the shaft. As my Jeep Station Wagon came to an unwieldy, uncontrolled halt, that rear shaft plowed into the tarmac. The wheel beat a hasty retreat into the bush periodically shooting up into the air and bouncing as it rolled like a school boy exiting school on the last day of the term. After experiencing the horror and in a state of shock, I gradually regained my composure. First, a prayer of thanksgiving was offered that I was still breathing, though a whole lot faster than usual. Secondly, there was the horrific feeling that this was not just a bad dream—it was real. Not a soul was in sight. Not a vehicle of any kind anywhere! I might as well have been on the moon.
Now, what am I going to do? My next act was a prayer for deliverance and guidance. Where was my Guardian Angel when I needed him? [Matthew 18:10]. Though I knew that the Lord would provide, Genesis 22:8, I was still hesitant to get out and survey the damage. After some searching, I retrieved the wheel. I scrutinized the ground for the brake-shoes, springs, rubber seals and various parts scattered in the melee. I jacked up the back wheel axle and examined the shaft. The shaft was intact, but the thread was really flattened. In my tool box, I providentially found a single nut that would normally fit that shaft, but not with that messed up thread. Then I found a triangular file, and set to work tediously cleaning up the thread. By now the sun was uncomfortably hot. The sweat was pouring from my face and periodically blinding my eyes.
After what seemed to be an eternity, I had replaced most of the parts—even an essential but broken spring for which I found a spare in my tool box. Once again I silently praised the Lord. The brake drum was installed. The culprit causing the mishap was the nut at the end of the shaft, but this time I was going to install it properly with a split pin. I tightened the wheel bolts and I was ready to go. Nope, it wasn’t going to happen.
The new nightmare was there were no brakes. The pedal went to the floor with no resistance. I had extra brake fluid, but how does one bleed the brakes by oneself? I figured out that if I'd place a heavy stone from the bush on the brake pedal after I furiously pumped it, I could dash down under the Jeep and expel some air bubbles. After dozens of trips, I finally secured a little resistance on the brake pedal. By now it was noon, and still not a vehicle had passed—no Good Samaritan was anywhere to be found.
I decided to start out very slowly at first and then speeding up while checking the brake periodically. It would never have passed a vehicle inspection, but it was enough to stop the Jeep with some vigorous pumping of the pedal. Since Sinoia offered me no help when I arrived there, I had to make a harrowing drive on to the big city of Salisbury (now Harare) to get the wheel properly fixed before proceeding on to South Africa—my intended destination.
The way God delivers us from catastrophe is marvelous, Psalm 16:1-2; 46:1-2; 2 Timothy 4:17-18. "Where He guides, He also provides. If he brings us to it, He'll bring us through it." The cash for clunkers program is ending. Many a missionary has had to drive many a clunker because of lack of funds. Be grateful to God that you live in a land where you have been given so much. But remember, “To whom much is given, much will be required,” Luke 12:48. When rejoicing over our many blessings, let us never lose sight of our obligation to world wide missionary work. Keep your eyes on Jesus, Hebrews 12:2. Love the lost. Provide the missionary with the necessities of life. Clunkers can mean disaster in the mission field.
Love you all,
Al—“the Horne of Africa.”