God's Continual Protection

Last night after church we were giving a ride home to some church members when suddenly I saw in front of us a man sprawled on his back trying to drag himself with one foot. I slammed on the brakes and Carlos and I got out and helped him over to the other side of the road. I chewed him out telling him that he needed to stop drinking or it would be the death of him. But I am sure he didn't understand anything or, if he did, he forgot it by the time he sobered up. Mind you, here in Guatemala the roads are dark. There really are no lights to illuminate the roads, and most of the people wear dark colors. Thankfully, this man was wearing some white so that I was better able to see him. Not only are the roads dark but a very large percentage of cars and motorcycles do not have front or back lights (some have neither) or, if they do have lights, they are on high beam so as to blind you. Shortly thereafter, there were two successive incidents of drunks walking in the road and swerving toward our car as we were approaching them. Praise the Lord that He protected them from death and me from a lot of unasked for and unnecessary problems. The lesson that can be learned is that sinners are oftentimes the beneficiaries of the grace and mercy that God shows toward his children.

God's Protection

The last week or so we have been experiencing sporadic shaking of the front end of our car. I was fearing what the cost would be as well as what the problem could be. I wanted to ask a knowledgeable friend about the possibilities but had forgotten and/or didn't have the time. Today on the way to teaching at the Institute, I hit a small pothole in the road and my car started shaking violently, significantly worse than ever. I slowed down and started to pull over and it returned to normal. This happened twice on the way to church, which is about 2 - 3 miles away from our house, and once on the return trip. I pulled into the yard and made a sharp turn to back into where I normally park and my car stopped dead. As I got out of the car, I saw that my tire had essentially fallen off as soon as I made it to our yard! I immediately thought, "Praise the Lord! What would have happened if I was barreling down the highway at a high speed? Death, disaster, etc. because it was on the left front and would have pulled me into oncoming traffic. Or, what would have happened if it would have fallen off in the middle of our road (that is only about one car width)? What a bother to the neighbors (and quite embarrassing too!)." Well I took a closer look and found that there are two bolts that hold the tire on and one of them had fallen out. So the tire was hanging on by a "thread." There was no damage other than a rubber boot that was probably torn when the tire fell off. I jacked the car up and put the tire back in its place thinking that I could possibly drive it a few kilometers to a repair shop. However, another part fell out where the rubber boot was which made it impossible for the car to go into gear. I think maybe God was trying to protect me from my own stupidity!? Then I started thinking, "What about tonight? I was going to go visiting. And much worse, what about tomorrow morning? I have jail ministry. That will be a huge pain without a car." We prayed that God would guide us and help us get the car repaired. I then began my mission to try to find a tow truck. I had a business card with the number of one on it, so I called that number. A man answered and told me, "My tow truck is no good." Okay?! I then thought of the tow truck that is almost always parked at the entrance of our road blocking our view of oncoming traffic. I walked to the end of the road but there was no tow truck. Just when I finally need one it is gone! I walked to the nearest tienda and asked if they knew of a tow truck service. My neighbor told me that there was a tow truck about four blocks down the road, so I walked there. I found someone and explained my problem and he gave me a ride to my house and looked at my car. He started to temporarily fix it so that he could bring it back to his repair shop. I kind of got the impression that he wasn't the most organized guy in the world. He had a box in the back of his pickup that had an assortment of a few tools, nuts and bolts, broken car parts, and other miscellaneous garbage. He eventually found a bolt that would at least hold my tire on until we got back to his shop. His shop was no better as far as organization goes. I kind of wanted to leave, but I also wanted to make sure that he put all the parts back on (and didn't lose any!). So I stayed. He sent me to buy the part at the nearby parts store. When I returned, he said, "Oh I forgot to tell you that I don't like the metal bands (which hook the boot to the shaft) I like the plastic type." So after he hemmed and hawed for a minute or two I offered to go back and buy a plastic band. I returned with a band that was too small, but it was the biggest they had. So he started to put it back together. He slipped the boot on the shaft and I asked him if he needed to put the metal band on first and he said no. So I curiously looked on. A few moments later a puzzled look came over his face as though he thought, "What am I going to do now? The gringo was right." Then a look of genius came over him as he remembered the plastic band that was too small for the other end. He used that one. We still had the problem of the other end. He put the shaft back on all greased up and everything but without a band to hold it on. I thought, "What is he going to do? I suppose I can always take it somewhere else to have them put a band on." Then he started looking around in his shop. Finally, he found his treasure: a long plastic band. He got down under the car to put it on but as he tightened it, it broke. It was too old (and brittle) he told me. "Now what?" I thought. I told him we could put the car back together and go to another parts store farther away. But he said no. I then showed him the large metal band and asked what was wrong with it. It looked the same to me, if not better than the plastic band. But he refused with an explanation that I couldn't understand. Then, suddenly, I remembered that I had a bunch of those plastic bands in my trunk. I tried jimmying the lock to my trunk as it is next to impossible to open anymore. Thanks to God, I got it opened and found my plastic bands. We were able to hook two together and it worked! It took him overall about 2.5 hours to fix it but now it is working. I didn't think I would have a car for tonight let alone for tomorrow. Praise the Lord!!! Although I don't know if he overcharged me, the cost was very reasonable compared to what it probably would have been in the States. He charged about $30 which included the part. I think what happened is that a few months ago I had some work done on my front end. I think that when they replaced those two bolts, they didn't tighten the one tight enough. I just want to praise the Lord for His protection and His help and guidance and I want to thank all those of you who lift us up in prayer for protection. We REALLY can feel your prayers!!! Thank you.

Specific Prayers

About three weeks ago while out soul winning on a Saturday, my friend, Maynor was witnessing to a barber at his barbershop. The young barber seemed very attentive, but before Maynor was able to finish, a customer came. I told Maynor that we should stop and come back another day and we left the barber on that note. The next two weeks we arrived at his barbershop but he was busy with customers. Last Saturday, while praying, I asked God to make sure that there were no customers when we got there and that we would not be interrupted by customers while witnessing. When we arrived, there were no customers. Praise the Lord! I took that as encouragement that God had indeed heard my prayer. So I started witnessing to the barber (Marvin) this time. After a few minutes, he seemed to be nervously looking outside for a customer. I stopped my witnessing and told him, "You don't need to worry about any customers coming until I am finished because I asked God that He would not let any come until I was done telling you what God wanted you to hear." At that I finished witnessing, taking about an hour in all. Finally, I asked him if he would like to be saved and he said yes. Praise the Lord for answering prayers and for answering specific prayers so that we can know that HE deserves the credit, the honor, and the glory for answering them. Please pray for Marvin to have a desire now to grow spiritually. He normally works every Sunday from 10 am until the evening. I am praying now that God will not send any customers to him during the normal hours of church so that he will KNOW that God wants him in church. :)