8
January 2016 • SR
Blessing of a Breakdown
I was in a small seven passenger van headed to
church one Sabbath morning in early October of
last year when the engine stalled and we coasted
to a stop on the left-hand side of the road. This
was the safer and appropriate side of the road
because they drive on the left in Uganda. I had
warned Johnmark Camenga before we left that
we could lay out a schedule of where we
planned to go, but delays, long conversations,
and mechanical failures would likely require
us to be flexible.
Even still, I had to remind myself to be patient
as we stood on the roadside hoping someone
would stop to assist us. It may just be me, but
I like it when a plan comes together, and I can
begin to feel frustrated when things do not go
the way I had in mind. I tried to orient myself
to the present moment as I took in our rural
surroundings.
Meanwhile, we became the object of curiosity
for a small number of children who lived in the
tin roofed dirt houses interspersed along the two-
lane ribbon of blacktop bisecting the parched
countryside. I began to wonder if a providential
plan involving them was the reason we had been
delayed. The kids did not speak much English,
nor was their language the same as that of our
hosts, so communicating with them would be
a substantial challenge. However, their more
English literate parents from the nearest home
became emboldened by the pluck of their chil-
dren and ventured to make our acquaintance.
The simple fuel problem had by now become a
battery issue and it appeared it would be some
time before we could get on the road again.
Standing in the sun, one of our hosts inquired of
the home owner now at hand, if we could move
under the shade tree near their house close by
and have a little open air time of worship while
we waited for assistance with our vehicle. The
locals were glad to accommodate and brought
out some short stools from their home so that
we would not have to sit in the bare reddish dirt.
We prayed as a few of the neighbors gathered
around us on their own carried stools or woven
mats. Then we opened our Bibles and together
began to discuss some passages in Mark and
Matthew and how they were related to each
other and how they were applicable to our own
Blessings
“This had been an appointment, not
merely an inconvenience.”
