"...we know that all things work together for good..."

This past Sunday morning we left for church or I should say churches. (I preach at two churches each Sunday.) We were only about five minutes down the road when my tire went flat and a horrible noise started coming from the back end! I turned around, went back to the house, changed clothes, and began to work on the vehicle. It was only 8:30am and it was already very hot! I discovered three of the four bushings went out on the rear equalizer/stabilizer bar! (How that happened all at once is beyond me.) I would not be able to use my Land Cruiser.

All was not lost, though, as I still have my old white truck. I only use the truck for short distances because the tires are completely bald, and I only have one spare. (One needs two or three spares here because of the condition of the road.) Also, the white truck needed fuel if I was going to take it all the way to Kudukudu for church. I managed to find some diesel in a container I have, and it did have enough to get me to the village and back. Even though the distance worried me with the tires, I decided to go ahead and use the white truck since the Lord did provide us with enough fuel. I took another shower and then we prayed and asked the Lord to watch over us, especially our tire situation. Keep in mind if we end up with two flats, which is common, we are stuck! There is no AAA to call or Goodyear store to go to.

By the time we got on the road, it was already too late for me to preach at the first church in Sohun. They would still have preaching, though, as a man I have been training in the Bible college is doing the work of pastor at that church. I knew I would be very late for the work in Kudkudu, but I was confident I could make it before any one started leaving. I still pastor this work, as I do not have a man ready to be pastor there yet. The trip was going fine until about 3 or 4 miles from the church. We heard a big BOOM, and I knew a tire just went out! (I have attached a picture of the tire.) Since we were just a few miles from the church, I changed the tire and then as we left, the truck started experiencing some fuel problems. Thankfully, it did not die. It was probably some bad fuel from my container. At that time, a man came out from the bush down to the road, and he was headed to the river to wash. This was Steven. About four years earlier, he came to church for about three or four Sundays, but he had not come back to church since then. When he saw me, and noticed I was in the white truck, he decided jump in the back and go to church instead of the river. We made it to church without any further delay, and no one had left yet! We had three visitors, including Steven. We had a very good service. I am preaching through Matthew and I was starting the Sermon on the Mount. I preached from the first 12 verses from Matthew 5 on how to truly be a blessed man. I showed how the verses are like steps which lead to salvation and then steps of what comes after salvation. After the preaching, three people asked for prayer concerning salvation. One of those three, then put his hand up to signify he wanted me to talk with him about salvation. That man was Steven! I took him aside and explained the gospel to him, and he put his faith in Jesus Christ for salvation! Steven left his house that morning to go to the river to get his body cleaned. Instead, the Lord took over and he went to church and received the “washing of regeneration”; his sins washed away!

Afterwards, we talked about all that God had done so he could hear the gospel that day! I told him all the trouble I had in getting to church: from tire problems, bushing problems, having to switch vehicles, etc… The fact was, without all of those hold-ups, I would not have been there on the road the moment he came out from the bush to go the river. Also, had I not been in my white truck he would not have stopped me and said he now wants to go to church with me. All that “trouble” I had was just the Lord putting things together because He loved this man and wanted him to hear the gospel! How true the verse is “…all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.”!!!

PS
By the way, I made it all the way back home with no problems, even though I only had one good tire, three completely bald tires, and no spare on a very rough road! Amen!!!