Adventures in Wonderland – (Ditches, Detours, and Dead-ends)

[Anyinam, Ghana – 28Sept. Wednesday, 1429 GMT] It always happens, we just don’t know when.  Last night when our teams set out for the film crusades the weather was apparently cooperative – a few clouds, but no real threat of rain.  That was, at the guesthouse.

Nick’s team was scheduled to travel to the remotest location thus far.  He was going to venture out to the same area where Jeff had been, in the school, yesterday morning.  (See previous blog)  As bad as Jeff’s description of the roads had been, it did not do justice to the conditions that Nick discovered on his trek.  The road had completely washed out and was at that moment experiencing a hard rainstorm.  The evening sky was already dark and the road already treacherous but our team would not be stopped from continuing on to the screening of the JESUS film.  (It is important to realize that the national team members were already at the project site and were showing the film to the gathered crowd of over 300 people.)

While in route Nick’s Land Rover slide off the road and ended up stuck in the deep, red mud.  The men in the vehicle tried, for over an hour, to free the vehicle without success.  It seemed as if they were destined to stay in that place through the night.  There only hope was that some of the people gathered for the film crusade might happen across them on their way back to their villages.  This was certainly a desperate place for our guys to be.

However, God is always our protection and provision.  A second team of ours, led by James McLean, took a “different road” from their project back to our guesthouse.  They had been planning to simply re-trace their ruts from their project back to the main road, but on this night came a different way.  You guessed it; the road they took back, was close enough to Nick’s team that they could help them.

“We had been trying to obtain a mobile telephone signal.  There was no coverage where we were,” said one of our Ghanaian team members with Nick.  “It was a miracle, at the exact moment that I saw that we had coverage, I phoned pastor and told him of our plight.  The other Land Rover arrived in a brief time,” he continued.

Both Nick and James arrived back at the guesthouse just after mid-night.  That was Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning Jeff and I set out for two separate programs of school ministries.  With each of us in different vehicles we traveled with our team members deep into the villages of this area.  Upon arrival at “the junction” we parted ways and went to our specific preaching assignments.  After speaking to nearly a dozen different school groups we reconnected at the “junction” for our return trip home.  Here in the middle of a typical African village our teams decided to have lunch.  The men all sat down with the locals and took portions of Fufu and Banku (local dishes made from plantains, corn, and roots) while Jeff and I watched. (Neither of us is ready for this meal in the villages.)

After all the team members were finished eating we began the trip back to our place in Anyinam.  When we were about 40 minutes out we heard the sound no one likes to hear.  The sound was distinct.  The sound was specific.  It was the sound of a fan belt breaking!  So there we were. Stranded along the roadside.  Pastor Sammy called for the other vehicle to come for Jeff and me and we traveled back to our guesthouse, where I am writing this blog.

After a bit, we heard the distinctive sound of the Land Rover, now complete with a new belt, roll into our compound.  Who knows how, but they replaced this belt alongside the road and all is well again.

Everyday in Africa is wonderful.  God takes care of us and allows us to share in all that He is doing.  So far we have shared the Gospel in 95 different venues and have seen 14,043 individuals publically indicate their decision to trust Christ.  Praise God from whom all blessing flow!