We have been here for 9 months and have managed to get away with any sort of accident that involves damaging the car. I say "damaging the car" because I have actually ran over a Boda Boda (motorbike) and hit a person while driving, both times it was their fault of course! I guess you could say they were accidents. Please take note that no one was hurt either of these times. I have learnt though the importance of using a horn and it's not to abuse people, instead, simply to inform people they need to move out of my way, fast, otherwise I will run them down!!!
But on the 9th month of being here, a big 4WD (with a bull bar) hit the driver's back rear side, leaving a nice dint. The man driving simply continued driving as if nothing happened. Will pulled into the shopping complex where the driver was also going, in the hope that the man would pull over so we could sort it out, instead he continued to drive. This infuriated both Will and I, so Will being Will floored the accelerator and took after him, being thrashed around by the lack of concern for potholes. We caught up with him and just like a scene from a movie (where the cops cut off a getaway) we smashed the brakes on cutting him of so he couldn't go anyway, our car diagonally blocking the road with approx. 1.5m distance from both our cars. Of course me being me strongly encouraged Will to do so, in fact it was my idea to chase after him and to cut him off.
We both got out of the car and boy did Will let the driver have it!!!
I tried to calm Will down, which worked finally. Meanwhile two Indian men got out of the car and came over asking what the issue was. Will showed them the damage. Immediately the older man out of the two said that they need to take responsibility for what had happened and agreed to pay for it to get fixed. We found out that the man that was driving was just the driver for the Indian men, they pay him to drive them everywhere. Before we knew it we were having tea and biscuits in his office, he owns an engineering business.
This Indian man who was Hindu, highly respected by other people which was clearly evident, humbled us. The way he conducted and presented himself was full of grace and love. Here we are the so called "Christian's, followers of Christ" blasting the crap out of a man we didn't know from a bar of soap. Not once did the man raise his voice, get angry or point the finger. He could of got angry at his driver, but not once. We didn't even ask him to pay for the damage, he simply offered.
While we were having tea and biscuits in his office he asked us why we were here in Uganda. We shared about how God called us here and about God. He opened up to us about his wife passing away. It was a divine appointment, no doubt.
It was also special time where God really gave us a big kick up the bum, gave us a slap in the face, humbled us and woke us up big time. As much as we were able to share God with him, had we already done too much damage with how we reacted for the first one and a half minutes?
We still took the opportunity afterwards to share about God, but what about those first few minutes, we did cause damage no doubt. I needed to ask for forgiveness and even when I think about it now I'm ashamed. Some so called "missionaries"!!!
My God assures me that he uses even the most unworthy, uneducated, most sinful for His purposes, all I need to be is ready, willing and obedient. But it was this very moment that all God had planned for us to do or say was compromised in those first few moments. Know doubt God did something in that man's life as we shared about our creator, we could see it. But I ask the question how much more of an impact could it have been if we handled the situation differently in those first few crucial moments?
We both got out of the car and boy did Will let the driver have it!!!
I tried to calm Will down, which worked finally. Meanwhile two Indian men got out of the car and came over asking what the issue was. Will showed them the damage. Immediately the older man out of the two said that they need to take responsibility for what had happened and agreed to pay for it to get fixed. We found out that the man that was driving was just the driver for the Indian men, they pay him to drive them everywhere. Before we knew it we were having tea and biscuits in his office, he owns an engineering business.
This Indian man who was Hindu, highly respected by other people which was clearly evident, humbled us. The way he conducted and presented himself was full of grace and love. Here we are the so called "Christian's, followers of Christ" blasting the crap out of a man we didn't know from a bar of soap. Not once did the man raise his voice, get angry or point the finger. He could of got angry at his driver, but not once. We didn't even ask him to pay for the damage, he simply offered.
While we were having tea and biscuits in his office he asked us why we were here in Uganda. We shared about how God called us here and about God. He opened up to us about his wife passing away. It was a divine appointment, no doubt.
It was also special time where God really gave us a big kick up the bum, gave us a slap in the face, humbled us and woke us up big time. As much as we were able to share God with him, had we already done too much damage with how we reacted for the first one and a half minutes?
We still took the opportunity afterwards to share about God, but what about those first few minutes, we did cause damage no doubt. I needed to ask for forgiveness and even when I think about it now I'm ashamed. Some so called "missionaries"!!!
My God assures me that he uses even the most unworthy, uneducated, most sinful for His purposes, all I need to be is ready, willing and obedient. But it was this very moment that all God had planned for us to do or say was compromised in those first few moments. Know doubt God did something in that man's life as we shared about our creator, we could see it. But I ask the question how much more of an impact could it have been if we handled the situation differently in those first few crucial moments?
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