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Dolly Parton

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I suppose that I should have turned left at the second mountain?

I envy the workers that go overseas today; armed with cell phones, GPS, and electronic gadgets that help them to find the most remote places while also aiding them in finding their way home.

Not so in Malawi, East Africa in 1985.  I had agreed to take some lady and her family from the hospital to their home village.  When I asked them where the village was located they all said in unison, “Not far!”  I was young enough and inexperienced in this cross-cultural stuff so I did not understand that any place, anywhere in a vehicle was “not far!”  I should have remembered the time when our family was driving down another mountain when a man frantically waved us down and begged for ride.  We squeezed him into the truck and drove for some time.  I kept glancing at him from the corner of my eyes, waiting for him to tell me when we had arrived at his village?  Finally I asked him straight out where he lived.  He looked at me, smiled and said,

“Oh I live in a village not far from where you picked me up.  I just wanted to ride in an automobile for the first time.  Let me out and I’ll walk back home.”

So here I was, having dropped off the family after their stay in the hospital.  And somewhere in the mountains of Malawi I was hopelessly lost with petrol stations, towns, and bathrooms, seemingly nonexistent.  Almost without warning I came over the top of a mountain and there was a small one-horse town.  As I went to the only shop that seemed to be open I couldn’t place the music that was coming out of a speaker so loud that you could hear from one end of the town to the other.

Finally it dawned on me that I was hearing Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner singing a duet!

Wondering how those country singers found their way on top of this mountain and in this town, I went into the store asking God in his mercy to provide me with the rare opportunity of purchasing a Coca-Cola or Pepsi.  When I asked the shop owner concerning the possibility of this miracle he just pointed to an old gas-powered fridge at the back of the store.  Opening the door of this ancient fridge, that must’ve come on the ark with Moses, I discovered two Pepsi Colas totally encased in ice.  Walking back to my truck, I got a hammer and screwdriver out of my toolbox and went back into the store and chiseled those two Pepsis out of the ice.  Going to the porch of the store I sat with my back to a termite infested post, pried the bottle caps off those colas, and leaned back and listened to Dolly and Porter wail their country song. It felt like I was back home in Kentucky.

About an hour later a man came to the town who could point me toward the right mountain pass I needed to find my way home.  30 years later I can still picture myself sitting on the wooden porch, covered with the dust of Africa, sipping a Pepsi, and listening to Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner singing the same song over and over and over again.

Life was good.

Our New Nissan Patrol

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Nik shares one of his favorite stoires about trip outside the city after receiving a new 4 x 4 Nissan Patrol with cassette tape.

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Lay Your Lumber Down

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It was so hot that, when our truck broke down and I had to walk about a mile for help, the bottoms of my feet blistered through the soles of my tennis shoes and socks.  Malawi in the 1980s had one paved road, almost completed, from the very north to the south of the country.  Breaking down, and having to leave my wife and two small kids stranded in the truck on the side of the road while I went for help, was not my idea of a good day.  Yet we found the assistance needed in order to get our vehicle moving again.  It was well over 100°F and I had allowed myself to engage in one big pity-party, bemoaning my sacrifice and sufferings to God.

 I spent much of my devotional time later that day in listing before the Lord all the burdens and troubles that we had humbly (with some sarcasm) placed upon our frail shoulders for Him and the kingdom of God.

Two weeks later we were driving down the same road, in the same un-air-conditioned heat, and passed a man walking barefoot on the blistering tar road.  Sweat was pouring down his face as he walked with about eight pieces of lumber, 10 feet in length, weighing well over 100 pounds, balanced on top of his head.  We immediately stopped the truck and helped him and his lumber climb into the bed of the truck.  He told me where he was going and we were thrilled to carry him to his village about 5 miles away.

After driving about a mile I looked into my rearview mirror and was astonished to see the man, legs spread far apart, swaying, attempting to balance himself in the back of the truck with the lumber on top of his head!  I quickly stopped and insisted that our new-found friend lay his lumber down into the bed of the truck.  He looked at me in astonishment and said,

“Sir, it is enough to ask you to carry me in the back of your truck.  How can I ask you to carry my lumber also?”

I was astonished and then broken.  As I convinced this brother to lay his burden down in the back of the truck and rest for the next 4 miles, I recalled my whining before the Lord.  How many times had I recently recounted to heaven all the burdens I was carrying for the sake of the kingdom of God, while the entire time I was being carried?  I was so much like this man, swaying in the back of the truck, legs spread far apart, and carrying with great difficulty what God had already taken upon Himself.

Jesus said it best, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28. Or it could be said this way.

“Lay your lumber down.  I’m already carrying you.”

African Arrival

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Nik talks about their arriving in in Malawi, East Africa. He shares their experience at the airport and early experiences after their arrival.

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