I want to share a funny story with you. This happened one day in Mozambique when we had to drive into town to retreive our lost ATM cards. Everything went fine on the way there, and we got the cards back from the bank without too much trouble. The ride home however, took and unexpected twist.
About half way home, the sun was just starting to sink toward the horizon. It was still daylight, but the night was approaching. We were driving down the bumpy dirt road once again, dodging potholes and bumps. All of a sudden, a bird flew up out of the tall grass and hit the windsheild right in front of Herb. SMASH! He ducked, not knowing if the glass would hold. The window was badly damaged, and even dislodged slightly from the frame. He pulled over to evaluate the situation, not knowing whether to leave the broken window in or to try to push it out. He decided to leave it in, and proceeded to drive toward home with caution. With every bump and hole, little pieces of glass fell in his lap or to the floor. Even so, rocks and other debris from the dirt road might be worse if there was no window at all.
A few miles down the road, a truck sped up next to us. The guys were laughing, and presented us with the bird that had smashed our window. We were not sure what to do with it when they passed it through the window. We held the bird ther staring at it. Some of the girls were a little uneasy, questioning whether or not the bird was dead. Surely it was. After that kind of impact, it had to be. Besides, there were traces of blood around it’s mouth. It had to be dead. Then all of a sudden, it’s eyes flipped open and it’s head raised a little. “Ah, it’s alive.” Okay, a few girls are freeking out now. What do we do with it? There were two pastors in the back with us, so we handed to bird to one of them and he quietly and discretely wrapped his hand around it’s neck and strangled the bird. Then, ever so casually, the bird was tossed on the floor at their feet.
We were all pretty sure the bird would be handed to the kitchen staff to prepare for dinner, but Herb had surprised us with a stroke or grace. We stopped at the orphanage on the way home to drop off the pastors, and they decided to take the bird out and give it a proper burial. I think we were all a little relieved.
