Recently, the Africa Ministries Office sold the truck that Eden Grace used for transport when she was in Kenya as Field Staff. In fond commemoration of the truck—and by popular demand—we are running again Eden’s reflection on one of the lessons the truck taught her.—ed.
Being in Kenya has allowed me to experience a great many miracles–some more unusual than others. For example, I was recently blessed by four flat tires!
I’d been noticing a slow leak in one of my rear tires for quite a few months and knew that both rear tires were overdue for replacement. The day before I was leaving to go on a trip, the tire that was slowly leaking was pancake-flat. My husband and son put on the spare, and I took the flat tire to the shop to be repaired. However, there I found the tire was in such bad shape that I would have to buy a new one. I couldn’t wait to order the tire, as I needed to leave the next day. I drove away on the spare with the ruined tire bouncing around in the back.
I drove to Eldoret, left the vehicle at the airport, flew to Turkana, had a fabulous visit there, flew back to Eldoret, collected the truck and started to drive back to Kisumu. It was already dark when I left Eldoret, and I don’t normally like to drive after dark, but on that particular night I really wanted to get home to my family.
I had driven about two hours when the other rear tire burst. It was dark and raining, but I was in a market center where I knew people and I didn’t feel the least bit scared. I called the manager of a guest house we frequently use to see if he could come assist me. He said he was just ahead of me on the road and joined me in seconds. Of course a crowd gathered (white lady with flat tire always attracts a crowd), so I had plenty of helpers. They pulled my second spare tire off the roof of the truck (where it had stayed unused for many years), struggled with the jack that didn’t seem to want to lift the truck, struggled with an elderly drunkard who wanted to “help” by standing between the flashlight and the real helpers, and finally got the spare on. They released the jack … and the spare hissed and crackled and lost about half its pressure, but then seemed to hold. At that moment, who should drive by but my colleague John Muhanji together with Lloyd Stangeland (an Iowa Friend)! They were on their way to the very guest house whose manager I had called. It turned out Eloise Hockett (an Oregon Friend) was already there waiting for them. I had no idea they would be in this particular place that evening. Like angels, they appeared out of nowhere. We agreed that John would take my vehicle and look for a place to inflate the half-flat spare tire while I would take his vehicle and get Lloyd settled into the guest house. It made sense for me to also stay at the guest house, rather than try to make it home to Kisumu that night.
When John came back, he was driving on the rim. The spare tire had lost all its pressure, and he couldn’t find any service station open that late at night. We decided that nothing more could be done that evening, and I went to sleep, grateful for friends and community and the fact that I was never alone or afraid.
In the morning, we chose the tire that looked to be in the best condition and sent it off on the back of a motorcycle to be repaired. I got a call informing me that it couldn’t be repaired, but that they could put a tube in it as a temporary measure. I agreed to that plan, and soon the formerly-tubeless-now-tubed tire was on the car and I was ready to go. I expressed my great appreciation to the guest house staff, to John and Lloyd and Eloise, and set off. There were still reports of violence in Kisumu, so I determined to take a back route over the hills to enter Kisumu from a more peaceful direction.
I got about 10 miles down the road when the tube burst. I pulled over and called my mechanic in Kisumu to ask him for a suggestion of what I should do, seeing as I had no more spares. He immediately dispatched some men with a tire to put on my truck as a temporary measure. As I waited the 45 minutes it took them to reach me, who should I see but Raymond who was driving the USFW Kakamega van full of Friends from Maine from my own home yearly meeting! I had absolutely no idea these folks were in Kenya. We had a lovely long chat, and I assured them I was fine and didn’t need any help, and they went on their way. A few moments later, John Muhanji passed me on the road. Seeing me with yet another flat tire, he just burst out laughing! What a comedy of errors, yet everywhere I turned, my friends were popping out of the woodwork! God could not possibly have given me a stronger message that I am never alone, never without the help I need.
The men from the mechanic arrived, put their tire on my truck, and we set off in convoy (in case I got yet another flat). As we approached Kisumu, we were turned back by the riots and had to take dirt roads around the city, but we made it safely to the mechanic’s shop. The only tires he could get on such short notice were a very high quality American brand, and I paid a shocking amount for them, but the most valuable part of this whole story was not the worth-their-weight-in-gold new tires, but the total peace and lack of fear I felt through every moment. I was indeed blessed by four flat tires!
—Eden Grace
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