On the ride from Mokhotlong to Maseru, we experienced something I’ll never forget. As we were driving out of the mountains on a windy road, we came up on a tragic car crash. A van for public transportation (the same kind we were in) had likely gone around a turn to fast and went over the irrigation ditch, crashed into the side of the mountain, bounced back over the ditch on the road, crashing through the guardrails, and came to a halt in the middle of the road. There aren’t any seatbelt in the van and all 14 people in the van had gotten thrown out onto the road and into the ditch. Scattered on the road were scrap metal, trash, clothing, rum bottles, beer bottles, and bodies. 14 bodies; 8 dead, 6 alive. All from this single car crash.
We got out of our van, and the 19 other missionaries and I jumped into action. We got first aid kits, jackets, water, and anything else we could get to help.
To be honest, the scene was traumatizing. You could smell the rum and beer coming from the van. Compound fractures, blood covered faces, and dead bodies were everywhere you turned. There was no escaping this nightmare.
Of the 14 people in the bus, only 6 survived; and even then they were barely alive in critical condition. An hour of making phone calls had gone by by the time we realized that no one was coming to rescue them. It turns out that the nearest hospital was 4 km away and they don’t have ambulances that could come, so we were on our own.
For two hours we prayed, tended to, gave medicine, and helped the people in the crash. We dressed bandages and comforted the crash victims. The people who survived got rides to the hospital in the bed of trucks. We loaded them in unsure if they’d even survive the short drive to the hospital. Possible broken necks and backs made the situation that much harder to give the victims proper care. We helped move the dead bodies and cover their faces. I had never seen anything so horrific.
In America, the situation would be completely different. It took an hour and a half for the survivors to get a ride to a hospital. It took 3 total hours for traffic to get flowing again. Anger came from the fact that these people didn’t receive the treatment they deserve. Through all this, passion was placed on peoples hearts. Passion to make a difference.
I feel like I make it sound like we’re some kind of super heroes. The truth is, a lot of it was just prayer. Most of my team was in tears. Some people had to walk away so they wouldn’t vomit. Some people just stood away from the whole mess in shock. Even the people who were in the middle of the action couldn’t do much. As much as we comforted and cared for the people, I can honestly say that where we contributed most was in prayer. This is why I think we found ourselves here.
I remember asking God “Where are you in this? Don’t you care?”
In this moment I felt like the disciples in the storm. The disciples and Jesus were crossing a sea and Jesus was asleep as a great windstorm arose. The waves were braking into the boat and the men feared. The cried out to him “Save us Lord; we are perishing” (Matthew 8:26) and “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38)
I found myself asking God for help and looking to him like a child asking for help from his father, like “can’t you do something father?”
Our God is a sovereign father. The word sovereign is translated to “in charge”, not to be confused with “in control”. God isn’t the one who had a man choose the sin of drinking and driving. God is the one who gave us the freedom of free will to drink and drive. God didn’t choose to have the van crash. He chose to give us freedom. God loves us so much that he gives us the option to love him back. This is a concept I’m still trying to grasp. The biggest lie that you hear in the American church is that everything that happens is God’s will. But when Jesus told his disciples how to pray in the Lords prayer, He says “Your kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Jesus says to ask God that his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Gods perfect will is being done in a perfect place: heaven.
But on earth, it’s different. There is warfare and sin. Satan tempted Eve and Eve chose sin, and since then we have been set apart from God’s holiness. I’ve seen Satan’s work in a lot of things since joining the race. Extreme poverty forcing children to steal our food. Satan haunting people in their sleep with sleep paralysis and other nightmares. Demons possessing a local girl in broad daylight just down the street from where we lived in Lesotho. Satan distracting us with homesickness and countless other things. Satan tempting a man to drink and drive.
The truth is the earth is nothing like the kingdom. Our time on earth is short but our time in heaven is eternal. Through this process I’m constantly reminded of this. Earth is not our home; heaven is.
God does care.
I remember praying asking God to send angels to help us.
But I wonder if someone had prayed God to send someone before we got there. I wonder if we were the help God sent the victims. See 10 minutes before we came up on this scene, we pulled over on the side of the road to pee and look at the scenic overlook. The van that passed us while we were pulled over is the van that crashed. Had we not stopped we would have missed it. The fact of the matter is in the middle of no where, there was a crash and 19 missionaries happened to be there just minutes after. I am certain that God’s provision was in this.
I asked God to send help, but I believe we were the help he sent. No, we weren’t equipped and no, no one could have expected to be thrown into this. Everyone was shocked to some extent. But there were 19 more people caring and praying for the people of Lesotho who needed it so bad. God is in charge. He sent help. He is sovereign. He cares.
This is what I have been processing for the last few days. These are the conclusions that came with asking God where he was in this.
I’m still trying to comprehend everything that happened, and the process of mourning and grieving everything that had happened won’t be easy. I’m asking that you partner with me in prayer for the families of the victims and everyone who saw the horrific images. There are images that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget.
I thank you for your prayers and for taking the time to read my blogs.
God bless.
