Sabbath Was Made for Man

I'm tired so this is going to be a short post. I had to tell my story, though, of how God works in wonderful ways.

I usually ride to church with Max and Davona Church, but they didn't go this week. I really wanted to go anyhow, so I decided to bravely ride the bus as far as I could and walk the rest of the way.

I tried to take Salima with me, but she was so scared I had to turn back. I decided to take Rachel with me instead. She would go to the end of the earth with me.

The dala-dala driver and attendant both assured me that they would take me all the way up the hill to the University of Arusha (the Adventist university). From there I would only have to walk half a mile to church. Well either they lied or they don't know English, because they dropped me off at the bottom of the hill and kept right on going. I stood there with my baby in my arms for a second, then decided to walk. A dala-dala might come along (I knew even as I thought this that it wasn't likely). As I started up the road I saw a sign for the university. It read: "University of Arusha: 6.3 kilometers." That's almost four miles! Uphill! On a dirt road! And I was carrying a child and a large (though not heavy) bag!

I started walking anyway.

After just a couple minutes, a dala-dala-looking van passed. I tried to flag it down, but it just flashed its lights at me and kept going. I'm still trying to figure out what it means when they flash their lights here. Sometimes they do it before they stop, sometimes they do it if they're not going to stop. Sometimes they do it to say hello. I just can't figure it out.

A 4-door sedan passed next. I ignored it. Then I saw a RAV4-like car coming up the road. For some reason, I flagged it down. And he stopped! As he pulled up next to me I realized it was a gentleman, maybe in his late twenties. I'm sure that what was going through my head is exactly what is going through your head: "Oh my...I'm hitchhiking in Africa, by myself (well, with a baby), and I'm being picked up by a single man. I am so stupid." But! Let me reassure you. Hitchhiking in Africa is not like hitchhiking in America. Yes, there is always the possibility of getting robbed (the most valuable thing in my purse was a bottle of hand sanitizer). But in East Africa it is common for people to hitchhike, and very rare for it to go awry. People just don't hurt hitchhikers here. Plus, the locals have a certain respect for white people. We bring money to their economy. Why would they endanger that by hurting one of us?

So, I asked him if he could take me to the university. He said yes, and I hopped in. The very first thing he asked me was, "Are you going to church?" I was taken aback. "Yes," I responded, and then he told me he was an Adventist! An Adventist! He told me he was also going to the university to pick someone up and bring them back to town. I thought that was nice of him, but then he told me he was a taxi driver. "Oh no," I groaned to myself, "Now he is going to expect me to pay him!" (though this did make me more comfortable regarding my safety). "How much are you going to charge me?" I asked, half joking and half scared. He looked at me and said, "Oh no. Nothing. Today is the Sabbath. I do not work on Sabbath, so you cannot pay me. Today I am just helping you."

What a blessing! God led me to flag down that specific car, where I found a taxi driver who was also an Adventist and who dropped me off at the door of the church and didn't charge me a penny! We even found out we had a couple friends in common! (Driver: "Do you know Max Church?" Katie: "Are you kidding me? I work for his wife!")

God is good.



Disclaimer: Please don't think I am behaving in an unsafe way. I am, in fact, very safe here in Tanzania.