We left Livingstone, Zambia on day 5 of our road trip and continued on towards Botswana. On this day we encountered one of the most challenging events yet. Border crossings are an annoying task; some are a breeze that takes about 20 minutes while there are others that can take hours. We were warned beforehand by our contacts that this border would be the most difficult in our travels. We drove up, parked Donkey, and got in the long line to get visas. We got all the stamps needed and paid all the tolls, walked to Donkey thinking that this border wasn’t bad at all. Then, Donkey decided not to start.
When the clicking sound of a messed up engine was heard, a horde of about 20 Zambians flooded to our truck to try and aide us. They picked and pried in various parts of the engine, and tried using another battery, but nothing worked. In the end another battery was placed in Donkey to get it going, and then we put the same old battery back in once he started back up. Well the idea of leaving so easily now went out the window.
We drove up to exit, and learned that we were missing one extra form and had to get it before departing. Daniel went in to get the extra paper, but he had to meet a big boss man in order to get it, and boss man wanted money before he handed over anything.
They played the waiting game, boss man in unbelief that we are missionaries, and Daniel truly unable to give boss man anything because we have no money.
They played the waiting game, boss man in unbelief that we are missionaries, and Daniel truly unable to give boss man anything because we have no money.
After sitting and waiting for about two hours Daniel along with the rest of us in our perspective places decide to pray. We prayed for the Lord to intervene, and when Daniel finished his prayer boss man called Daniel up and asks to see his passport again. Boss man looks and sees that Daniel has been to several countries recently, and believes that we truly are missionaries, and hands Daniel the much-needed piece of paper. Daniel then asks if he could pray for the man, and boss man signals Daniel into a small private room and asks for prayer. Daniel prays, walks out the room with a huge smile, and we drive off ready to see what encounters we’ll have in Botswana.
Botswana is a land with a ton of wildlife. There are more elephants and wildlife than there is humans. We encountered roadblocks!
On day 6 we finally made it into South Africa. We stayed with a lovely family who blessed us abundantly. They own a game reserve and let us look at some of their wildlife, which I added some pictures below.
From Tom Burke we headed to Pretoria and met another lovely family. A great thing about road tripping is that you get to meet several people along the way. Some encounters were quick hello and goodbyes with strangers while others were long conversations about life, the Lord, and anything else. The Lord is good, and it’s a pleasure to simply chat with people about life, and to occasionally encourage them. We arrived at our contacts house on the evening of the tenth of January. An eight-day road trip that was simply amazing. Our prayers were answered, Donkey made it to Cape Town. God is faithful, and he is our provider. He grew us together in this journey, and he is continuing to grow us.
