Hanging out of the window of our safari vehicle after a long day of ministry…the wind brushes against my face as my teammate Mary and I take in the warm Indian air. Two of our teammates (Jeff and David) follow behind us on a motorbike. Laughter fills the air as as we dodge the bugs that hit our face while ducking from low hanging tree branches that cover the road with which we are driving.
This is the jungle.
This is safari life of a missionary.
This is Southern India.
Our safari-mobile continues to trudge through the rocky roads of the tropics; every bump that we hit sends Mary and I up into the air, holding tightly onto the inside of the vehicle so we don't fall out. An hour into our drive at 11pm at night, we talk about life and love and joke about having husbands who are "Goat-herders." Each night in ministry is long but the thing we always look forward to and now appreciate, are the nights hanging out of the sides and back of that unstable sorry excuse for an SUV. However, in that, I am even more grateful for one particular experience that could have ended it all.
Laughter.
Potholes.
Indian air.
We continue holding on and in an instance;
black
slow motion
my eyes try to focus on what is in front of us
the vehicle i am hanging out the side of, shakes
black
headlights shine into my eyes
i pray
my eyes widen
i grit my teeth
slow motion
my hands tightly clutch onto the inside of the vehicle
black
we come to a complete halt
the people inside of the vehicle thrust forwards
Mary and I sling from our spots halfway outside of the vehicle
bright lights
There is pile of wood over 13 feet tall on the left side of the road, the side of the road where our vehicle is driving. The driver changes lanes in order to avoid the stack of lifeless trees. A bus is coming towards us at full speed in the opposite direction. Break. Somehow the driver manages to break just at the right time. Somehow Mary and I manage to hold on without getting slung out like rag dolls. Somehow the bus driver slows down just enough to not hit us. I turn to yell a warning to the guys on the motorbike behind us; they are safe.
In that moment, I thank God for the life I know I could have lost as well as the life of my teammate, Mary.
This could have been a tragedy. This could have been a sad story in India. This is not my first close call and even further, this is not the first time that I know undoubtedly God spared my life. Was it a coincidence? Was it a matter of probability? Flip a coin…heads there's life and tails there's not. In a previous mindset, in a time when I didn't believe in God, my mind might have gone to these questions, but there is absolutely no way I can think this way anymore. That way of thinking, that way of seeing life, that was once my way of writing things off, things of God, because I just couldn't grasp it or perhaps, I just didn't want to. This night in India was amazing. It was one of my most memorable nights because I know that day in and day out, God continues to protect me and he continues to protect us all. God spared ME. He spared a 26 year old girl who isn't worthy of being saved. He saved me then and I know he will continue to. There is no science that can explain how our safari truck with terrible suspension managed to stop JUST in time. There is no theory that can explain how four hands managed to grasp onto the metal in order to not be thrown violently from the vehicle. There is no truth in the idea that our lives being spared was just a "accident". Science just can't explain it but I am grateful for a God who can.
"Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered." – Matthew 10:29-30
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