ZAMBIA 2010 - Trip Across Africa DAY #4

Lusaka, Zambia

Thursday, July 1, 2010

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Trip Across Africa DAY #4

Do you believe in miracles? Funny question, huh? Well, what you are about to read may seem like something off of the X-Files (insert Twilight Zone music here), but is the reality of what happened to us. The other day, we took the road from Chipata, Zambia to Mfuwe, Zambia, which is not only unpaved, but a grueling 3 1/2 hour drive, much of which was crawling in our 4X4 Nissan Terrano over a long portion of road that was full of rocks. It was so bad that it deterred me from wanting to return using the same road as we needed to head back south again, and then west to the capital city of Lusaka today. I saw two other roads on the GPS map that looked like they could be faster and were less distance to Lusaka, but when I asked one of the locals about the other two roads, I was told that one was an 11 hour trip, and the other a 9 hour trip, both horrible roads and not advisable to travel on. He then told me that the road we came on was a 4 hour trip and the fastest way to the paved road to Lusaka.

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I was pretty bummed, and wasn’t looking forward to driving back down the road that we came on. But seeing as it was our best option to make it to Lusaka today, we decided to get up, strike camp, and head back to the paved road in Chipata exactly the way we came (While I was taking down our tent from up in the tree, an elephant approached and was startled by me and began to charge me. I almost had to climb higher up into the tree. Pretty freaky). Before we left, we were talking about transporting in the Spirit, like Philip did in the book of Acts, after he had witnessed to the Ethiopian eunuch and was taken away by the Spirit of God to another place, supernaturally. We prayed that God would increase our faith to believe in such miracles in our lives today, and also prayed that we would make it to Lusaka before sundown, which was around 800 kilometers away.

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Not thinking much more about it, we just drove down the same exact road that we came there on. I kept wondering where the section of road was where all the rocks were, as I was bracing myself for the long crawl over them once again. I kept asking when that section of road was coming, as I thought I had remembered the landmarks correctly around the time we should have hit that section of road. Finally, we came closer and closer to Chipata, and both of us realized that we never drove across that horrible section of road. When we looked at the clock as we drove into Chipata, we realized that it had only taken us 2 1/2 hours to make the trip. I drove at the exact same speed coming back to Chipata as I had driving to Mfuwe. What’s more, when I topped off the gas tank in Mfuwe when we arrived, I had to put close to 25 liters of diesel fuel into the tank. Yet, at the exact same petrol station I had topped off at in Chipata the day before, I could only put 15 liters of diesel fuel into the tank to top it off.

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Now comes the question: How can we have possibly missed one hour and 10 liters of fuel on our way back on the EXACT SAME horrible road that we came on? It is physically impossible. And where did that long, horrible section of road go? We aren’t crazy. We all realized that God had performed a wonderful miracle during our travels today. Maybe because we prayed that He would transport us in the Spirit past that horrible section before we left. Maybe because He just cares about us so much and didn’t want us to be shaken up during the drive like we were a couple of days before. Maybe our mechanic angels needed a break from holding our rig together. No matter what, we have a great God who continues to pour His Spirit out in these last days and we continue to be witnesses of His mighty power and miracles.

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God also answered our prayer to make it to Lusaka before sundown. We are staying at a place called Chachacha’s Backpacker’s Lodge for only $30 in a double room. It’s a nice break from staying in our tent. We continue to see God's favor so much on this journey. Tomorrow morning we will sleep in a little bit. Then we will head to “Shop Right” to get more bread and peanut butter and begin to drive another 6 or 7 hours to Livingstone and Victoria Falls. We hope to arrive there before sundown, as well. Thanks again for all of your prayers for us during our trip across Africa. God has been so good. I had a chance to pray for an employee, a Nyanja man, who is a believer. He was encouraged and said that we are the first believers he had ever encountered there at the camp. It all started by me hearing him singing a worship song in English and telling him that he has a wonderful voice to praise Jesus with. We then told him we were missionaries in Mozambique. Even as we are on vacation, we have opportunities to shine the light of Christ. Catch up with you all more tomorrow.

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Christian Young

Huge suspension bridge over Luangwa bridge on the way from Mfuwe to Lusaka