Triple AAA

Well if the three A's in Triple A stand for Abdul, Emmanuel, and Samuel- then we had the best AAA crew ever come rescue us. Last weekend the girls from the One-by-One team, a few of the older girls from JH and I decided we wanted to go swimming after church on Sunday. There is this large river about 10 miles or so out of town (on the way to Gondama Hospital) that we thought would make for a great afternoon swim. We piled into the Hilux (a four-door toyota truck) and began our journey out of town. This trip was going to be smooth- the road is all tar with only two rough spots. We made it to our place and drove down in- parked- jumped out and made our way down to the water. After looking around a bit we decided we didn't want to disturb the guys fishing (we later found out there were looking for diamonds) and that we would head to the other side of the river where we could even see a bit of a sand beach. Back up the hill to the Hilux, all pile in (some inside and some in the box) and turn the key- small engine noise and then a little pop and nothing. HHHMMMM- I pop the hood and just as we are about to look a couple men come walking up. I do admit that inside I am debating whether I want to admit we are having trouble or if I just wish they would walk by and then we'll deal with the problem. I need to let you know that I have received my fair share of marriage proposals while here and sometimes I just don't want to deal with it all. On our way in we had driven past these guys parked in a Hilux of their own and they had yelled "White woman"- hearing all of this often and not wanting to deal with it with all the girls with us I just kept driving- Well they came right over and the decision was made for me- now I would deal with it- whether good or bad.

To make a very long story short- they stayed with us for the next hour or two and helped us figure it out enough to get home- well more than enough as they were all mechanics to different extents themselves. Not only were they good at fixing our car- but they were also great entertainment. When they first introduced themselves they gave us fake names- this was because we had ignored them on our way in, but after spending some time with us they decided that we were worthy of their real names and even their phone numbers- so they can help us really fix the hilux. They gave Karen and I a crash course so that we would be able to deal with any trouble that might hit on the way home and we were soon off. Shortly after getting home I received a call from Abdul to make sure we had arrived safely. It was a fun afternoon- even if it was a bit unexpected.

Our AAA crew- Emmanuel, me, Samuel, Abdul and Karen. I have to say that God really was watching out for us. We could have walked down to that river- swam for a few hours and found all our problems (and there weren't just a couple) and been stuck with no one around to help. We could have even ended up finding some people but they wouldn't have had the knowledge these guys did- or been as friendly and fun. Especially with all the young girls with us- I am truly thankful for all the ways God provided for us and protected us- even on our little river swimming adventure. I will tell you the girls swam the whole time we were fixing the hilux (right along side the diamond hunters) and Karen was able to swim for a bit while I went into the town/village with the mechanics to get some things. I quickly ran into the river before leaving but will have to get some friends from here to go back with me sometime.