What Happened Next

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about what happened after Zim!

You may remember I went into some detail about my bag at the beginning of the last post. Well, it turns out that about an hour from the Zim border I suddenly remembered that my keys were all in there! ARGH! Okay, so not a mega problem as they were coming back with Drew (though it made it much more urgent to confirm that the bag was actually there!), but it did mean that we had to come back to Durban with the guys from Mtuba when we arrived back. That meant not only waiting around, but also leaving my car in Mtuba! I had to go back with them when they were going back the following day, and then stayed overnight with the leader of the Mtuba church, Antony Eastes. That was a bonus to that whole debacle because it meant I could build some connections further afield.

But in between all that I finally arrived home, after going around the houses and scrounging lifts, to find that the power was completely out at home. Not only that but it had been out for a while as the alarm (which has backup battery) was completely off. I looked in my fridge and voila - room temperature stuff in the fridge and the freezer section! I had actually cooked a huge batch of bolognese (and pretty good too, if I do say so myself) before I left and so there was loads of that in the freezer that just went to waste. Lots of stuff in the fridge smelled a bit dodgy, and so I sighed at the extra hassle and expense incurred there.

Then after church on Sunday just as I'm leaving to go to Mtuba, Gary hands me a piece of mail that's been delivered for me - a speeding fine! I think it must have been a temporary hidden camera and it's placed in a zone that goes between 60 and 80 (kph) on a massive four lane dual carriageway. Anyway, I'm driving down it in the middle of the day and the thing is empty, and I got caught at 90 (which happens very fast in my Saab - particularly if you're going to see the guy who sold it to you about a problem, as I was!). So to add to my parking ticket I've now got a speeding fine for R700 (about £50!). Just more good news!

So anyway, Monday morning I left Mtuba and started heading home for Durban. About halfway into my journey a loud noise that sounded like bursts of high pressure air started coming from my car! Was the turbocharger going crazy? Well, it seemed to recede a bit at lower speed though there was some definite weird noise continuing. I pulled over at the next junction and it was clear I was in the middle of nowhere. Looking around the car I found that a piece of exterior trim that guards like the oil sump and such and tucks in behind the front bumper was hanging down and dragging along the floor. Okay, so not a bad problem, but I couldn't pull it off, and it wasn't easily going back in. Eventually I managed to bend it about and get it to sit behind the bumper again, and though the fixing screws were missing, it was in with enough force that it shouldn't come out again. I continued home at 60mph just to be safe and was just glad it was nothing major.

But, I did notice a very slight droning noise as I drove. I thought it was probably nothing and I was just paranoid from the latest incident. However it did definitely get worse as I went along and about 100km from home I was sure I had a problem. I noticed the noise disappeared if I steered slightly to the left, though by the end I was steering a lot more before it stopped. I had thought perhaps something was rubbing against the wheel and turning it removed the contact. I got home and jacked the car up but found that actually there was nothing like that happening. Sounds like knackered wheel bearings, I thought. So I book it into a recommended service centre (the guy who sold me the car never managed to track down the guy who could give him the number for an independent Saab specialist, though when I saw him in the gym he of his own volition asked me why I didn't bring the car in for sorting out this remaining oil problem - which was an encouraging sign. Still nothing much has come of that suggested helpful attitude) who said they could only look at my car at the end of the week. After a couple of hours they phone me back, confirm it is wheel bearings, which means both right and left need to be replaced (if one's gone another is not far off), and the parts need to be ordered from the factory outside Durban, so they'll probably arrive Tuesday or Wednesday, which means I might have my car back by Thursday, and for the princely sum of R3300 (about £250). Sigh! I've considered selling it, and might try to do so via private sale, but no option seems particularly good at this moment except for perhaps God directing a thief to take my car and roll it off a cliff so I can get the insurance payout!

Paul says in Philippians,

"I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (4:12-13)

And,

"My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (4:19).

It's definitely the sort of promise that keeps me from being fearful and wondering if I'll be coming home early because of such hinderances.

While I don't mention all of this to pressure anyone into helping me out, or dangle it out there as a veiled attempt to solicit help, I do openly welcome all your support in prayer, finance, friendship, encouragement, etc. Part of me wants to not mention things like this because it feels like cheating to call on a security other than God to provide (of course I know he can and generally does provide through people, but I'm talking about the difference between relying on people and relying on God to give you people who will help you). Part of me thinks that's silly and recognises that Philippians 4:19 is actually a statement of the once needy Paul given to the church that had sent him gifts, saying that whatever lack they had incurred through generosity, God had all ability to supply to them as necessary in His good time. Paul also writes in 2 Corinthians 1 that "We don't want you to be uninformed of the hardships we went through". All in all I feel it more an antidote to spiritual pride (my faith being big enough to face this with nothing but God and receive all I need from Him direct) than an ungodly antidote to fear to talk like this and express a willingness to be helped. Each must do as they feel is right before God, and that is how I want to leave this - open, vulnerable, and thankful. Really what I want to ask is that you pray for me that God provides both means to sort out ongoing problems (not for convenience, real problems that make it difficult to live and work here) and any future ones, though it'd be nice if my car just worked from now on, for example!

Thanks for all your support, comments, emails, prayers, etc. It's great to be in partnership with you all.