I don’t know what it is about my taxi drivers when I get into Manila, but so far I’m three for three in having a driver named Rolly. When he told me his name, I just kind of laughed to myself and had to explain to him that I wanted to know if having the name Rolly was a job requirement for the airport taxis. He didn’t really understand what I was trying to say, so we just had to ride in silence for a few minutes. Good start.
Eventually, I realized the songs that were playing were all contemporary worship songs, so I just started singing along a little bit. It only took a few seconds for Rolly to perk up a little and join me. He was so excited so he just kept singing louder. Out of respect to everyone within earshot, I kept my voice somewhere around a whisper, but it didn’t deter Rolly any at all. When the song was over, he asked me how I knew the song, and I told him that I had sung that one hundreds of times since becoming a Christian. Now, he got really excited. He said, “You are a born again Christian? Me too! My whole family is now too!” This was a picture of true joy.
Rolly told me how most people just get in the taxis and attempt a conversation, but usually they just ride in silence. It’s not very often that he gets to have a conversation with someone, much less one that is a Christian and living here in the Philippines as a missionary. He told me that he had actually just been called to go pick up another missionary after he dropped me off. His dispatchers know to call him whenever the mission bases around Manila call in for a taxi. He wanted to hear all about what we were doing in Mindinao as well as up here in Manila. He hung on every word and asked tons of questions.
At one point, I got a call and had to answer it, but when I hung up, he asked if it would be OK if he made a phone call. I’ve never had a taxi driver ask me if it was OK to break from our conversation for a phone call, so I told him it was fine by me. He called his wife and started talking very fast and excited. He then asked his wife if it was OK for him to talk in English so I could understand. I’m assuming she said yes, because he started telling her all about me and the lady (the other missionary) he was just called to pick up. There was one moment he said, “Two Christian missionaries riding in my cab back to back! This is such a blessed day!”
Needless to say, this was one of the most bizarre taxi rides I’ve had in my life. After he got off the phone, we sang another couple of worship songs, and then we arrived at my destination. I was totally amazed at this encounter and it’s one that I will definitely remember as a fun story to tell. I wanted to keep him as my personal driver for the rest of the day, but I knew I had to let him go to his next appointment. I paid, and he drove off into the blur of other yellow taxi cabs, and I couldn’t help but thank God for that ride. It was such an encouragement in a random time where I would usually just check out and watch the people as we drive past. Not today…
