All too familiar

When I talked to another missionary about visiting Ipumbu BBC he warned me about the road during the rainy season. I figured that after being stuck the week before, it was not likely to happen again the very next week. After all, besides last week - rarely in all the years of navigating dirt roads have I ever been stuck... surely it couldn't happen two weeks in a row.

I was WRONG! I was told there were two roads to this church - one very bad, one that was just ok. It turned out we chose the very bad one.

As we began down the last leg of our journey I snapped my trusty Nissan into 4x4 knowing it could handle almost anything. We began down a muddy trail that began to get worse - finally we were pushing through 6-10 inches of water. I increased my speed as I knew my only hope was momentum!! As we spotted the church just off the very wet and muddy road, I had that feeling of relief... I turned the wheel and cut through the water/mud. As I made the turn I spotted the pastor who with a big smile was welcoming us to the church. We made it about 10 feet off the mud/water road before sinking into THICK mud just to the entrance of the church.

We all knew we were in trouble... oh well, we got out - sang some songs, prayed, preached God's word, and had some good fellowship. Four people in this small church made life changing deicisons. As soon as the service was concluded - we all immediately focused on removing the vehicle from the mud... it took us almost 2 hours but we made it!! Praise the LORD!! The church members didnt complain or murmur - they just worked to get us out... amazing!!