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God Moves in the Bush |
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As you know, I went to the bush last week for a little R&R. Rustling and wRestling with buffalo is not exactly what I had in mind. The seven-hour road trip to Mana Pools in the Zambezi Valley was less than exciting, but unbeknownst to our party of five our holiday was about to set in motion a chain of events that would change lives. Upon arrival at the game reserve, we spotted wildlife without looking very hard. There were elephants in an almost dry riverbed, a variety of antelope (impala, kudu, eland), and hippo bobbing around in the great Zambezi River serenading us with their music. At our campsite, which was on the river, we spotted two old codger buffalo (called dagga boys in Zim), which had been expelled from the herd, munching water lilies in a swampy area that was a 15-foot drop from where we pitched up. The sun was setting with spectacular color and all was peaceful in Mana as Dick and Mary Ann McCloy (veteran missionaries and frequent visitors to Mana), their adult daughter Becky, Lynne Hawkins (veteran missionary and reluctant visitor to Mana), and yours truly were about to engage in the nature experience of a lifetime. Monday evening at 8:00 everyone was preparing to end the day, crawling into their sleeping bag to enjoy “God’s music” of the bush and some much-needed sleep. Lynne decided she needed one last trip to the loo to hold her through the night so I volunteered to accompany her on the short trek up the hill. With flashlight in hand scanning the landscape for wildlife we started across the clearing to the little building on the hill. The trip to the loo was uneventful, however the return trip… Well, I really shouldn’t rush the story. Knowing that we should stay alert and quiet as not to startle any creature that may be in our path, we continually scanned the area as we walk back to camp single file with me in front carrying the high powered million candle watt search light. We stopped briefly at the water pipe that was about 150 feet from our camp so Lynne could wash her hands and then proceeded on to camp. Halfway back, one of the old male buffalo we had seen earlier (which will be referred to as Dagga) walked out from the trees and stood about 10 feet in front of me staring me down. Stopping in my tracks, I whispered to Lynne, “there is a buffalo” and at the moment he lowered his head raking his front hoof across the ground. Then I said, “ he’s going to charge!” I waited a split second to see which way Dagga would go and decided to dodge him to my right. I took two steps to the right and fell, hearing his hooves beat against the dirt. I dropped the light as I rolled backwards head over heels, then rolled a couple of time to the side. I knew he was going to trample me to death and the only thing I can remember thinking is, “Lord I’m coming home.” I landed in a pile of stickers and thorns then jumped up to see what was happening. As I looked for Lynne, I saw her backing up toward the water pipe, Dagga keeping step, as she was now his target. Even though they were only a few feet from me, I was having difficulty seeing and realizing my glasses were gone I looked on the ground to try to locate them. I ran my hand through my hair as I scanned the dirt and found them on the back of my head dangling from my ponytail. Putting my glasses on, I could see that Dagga and Lynne were “dancing” around the water pipe with his head just inches from her face. I began to pray for the Lord to be with Lynne and get her out of there alive. I could hear her saying, “don’t leave me, don’t leave me.” (She later told me she was saying, “Lord help me, Lord help me.”) So I stood there not knowing what else to do but to watch and pray. Dagga swung his head around the pipe trying to gore Lynne and she let out a screech announcing our dilemma to the McCloys, who were already in their tent. Dick and Mary Ann hurried out of their tent and saw their two companions (us) in the midst of extreme crisis. Mary Ann began to pray and Dick began to slowly walk towards the excitement. When he was next to me, he told me to shine the light. I located the light in the dirt, but it would not come on. As Dick moved forward a few steps, I took a few steps backward toward camp. By this time, Dagga and Lynne were stopped dead still staring into each other’s eyes. Lynne’s hand was held out in front of her as if to stop him. She wasn’t sure how her hand got up there, but she could not bring herself to take it down, so there they were in a stand-off as total silence enveloped the night. Mary Ann was praying, Dick was praying, and I was praying that the Lord would protect Lynne as it seemed that hours were dragging by, but it had only been four or five minutes. Then Dagga took a couple of steps backward, turned, and walked into the trees. The buffalo had disappeared, but the trauma had not. We led Lynne back to the vehicle and as she sat there trying to calm down, I was still praying. Only through the miraculous intervention of God were we both alive. I thought we had both come out of it “physically” unscathed, but to my dismay I was wrong. I asked Mary Ann to brush off my back because something was poking me and she found I was covered in stickers and thorns that would not come off. I realized my left arm was a bit sore so we shined the light on it and found my wrist oddly shaped and starting to swell a little. Announcing it was just bruised from the fall and would be fine; I began poking around on my wrist and was pretty sure it was broken. Mary Ann wrapped it in a towel soaked in ice water and we all decide to turn in for the night. Tuesday morning we loaded up in the vehicle and went to the game warden’s office to report the incident and ask where the doctor (Nyasha, his wife) was located. Nyasha thought the wrist was broken so she splinted it and told me to get x-rays. Since we had just arrived, I decided I could wait a few days before driving back to town. Thieving Vervets Later in the morning we were sitting by the river watching the wildlife as vervet monkeys were checking out the camp leaping from tree to tree and looking for opportunities to snatch goodies. When Dick lifted the lid to the trailer where the food supplies were kept, “Mr. Monkey” got the brilliant idea to jump into the trailer. Thank goodness we only lost a few buns as he was very quick and didn’t mind jumping over Dick to steal a tasty treat to share with his cohorts. Looking across the clearing I saw the game warden and his wife creeping up through the trees in a Land Rover and couldn’t imagine what was going on because they weren’t on the road. The happy campers at site #1 (us), all stood watching when we discovered Dagga was charging the Land Rover. We lined up by our vehicle ready to hop in if the buffalo came toward us. He charged Land Rover a couple times then ambled off through the trees. The warden announced he was calling for permission to take the animal out because it was a rogue. I breathed a sigh of relief at his comment and I’m sure the others were in agreement with me. Raiding Baboons Shortly afterward, the baboons put on an extraordinary show chasing each other, screeching and barking, and “disciplining” their young ones. They were a nice distraction from the events that occurred over the last 15 hours and as afternoon approached, we decided to drive over to the warden station to pick-up firewood for a braii. Since Dagga and two of his buddies had already shown themselves a bit earlier that morning, all five of us went to get the wood leaving no one at camp. As we drove up the road, the troop of baboons was chasing each other about and someone commented that they were probably going to check out our camp. We all laughed… We were gone about 25 minutes and as our vehicle neared camp, we saw the baboons having a party in ALL three tents. They were not even frightened when we pulled up, but Dick got out and yelled “hoy, hoy” and they all took off leaving quite a mess behind. The troop had unzipped the tents, then tore a hole in the side of them to use as a “back door”. It looked like someone had cut them with a razor knife. They unzipped and emptied the McCloys’ suitecase down the steep embankment in front of their tent. They took all the medication (blister packs and childproof bottles) and emptied them eating some, licking the coating off of others, and scattering what they didn’t eat across the clearing. Opening a two liter bottle of water in my tent, they proceeded to dump it only on my sleeping bag and pillow, they chomped on anything that was in a tube and used my toothbrush as a broom in the dirt. The camp and clearing were littered with paraphernalia from each of our tents. I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. I laughed! Becky “repaired” the tents with safety pins the best she could to keep the hyenas out that night while the rest of us began picking up the mess. We chatted while working and decided the camp could not be left unattended again, but who should stay behind while the rest went game viewing? Dick was the driver, Becky wanted to go, Lynne wasn’t staying anywhere without the vehicle, Mary Ann said she would stay, but needed help, and I had a injured “wing” (and was still a bit concerned about Dagga returning). Saving of One Due to the chain of events, which started with the charging buffalo, we met a young man named Prosperous. Dick went to the workers’ compound to hire a “guard” for our camp. It was about 5:00 in the afternoon by the time Dick came back and introduced Prosperous. He would watch for unwanted “visitors” while we went game viewing. However, since it was getting late (you must be back to your camp by 6:00 pm) we decide that he should come back Wednesday morning so we could get an early start. Dagga visited our camp that evening and we piled into the vehicle to eat a cozy dinner while he watched us and we watched him through the window. He was just a few feet away. It wasn’t the ideal relaxing evening around the campfire. After a while, Dick and Mary Ann decided they had better put the food away to prevent the hyenas from wandering into camp for a free meal. Dagga finally turned and disappeared into the trees.
On Wednesday morning, I asked Mary Ann if we could start back to Harare after Becky finished with her game viewing since my wrist was still swollen and sore. Prosperous came to our camp at 7:00 am to act as guard and instead we persuaded him to help us break down camp. Mary Ann and Prosperous did most of the work and I was the camp chair supervisor. Dick and Becky took off in the vehicle to take a game walk and find lions with a scout and Lynne went with them to watch the vehicle. There was very little wildlife activity that morning, but something else even more spectacular was at work…the Holy Spirit was moving. When the work was finished, Mary Ann and I relaxed with Prosperous enjoying tea and cinnamon rolls. We asked about his family, school, which house he lived in, etc. He spoke some English, but was more comfortable with Shona so Mary Ann switched back and forth. She began to ask Prosperous questions about Jesus (Jesu in Shona) and began to witness to him mostly in Shona using the “Five Finger Facts”. I could understand some of the things she said and began to pray silently that God would open Prosperous’ heart to the Word. He listened intently and responded by praying to accept Christ. His prayer was in Shona and I don’t know exactly what he said, but it was beautiful and touched the depths of my soul. I just wanted to shout…but I didn’t want to scare him. Mary Ann explained to him how to grow in the Lord and gave him some written instructions with a promise to send a Gospel of John to him when we returned to Harare. Was this one soul worth the chain of events that led up to his salvation? Most definitely!! Shocking Tale Our merry band returned to Harare late Wednesday and now it was time to tell the story. As I began to tell how the events unfold with the charging Dagga, listeners were shock. Over and again I heard them respond, “you’re here, you survived, praise God…did you hear about so and so that didn’t make it a few years ago? People don’t walk away from a charging buffalo!!” The same comments came from missionaries, friends, strangers, doctors, etc. It has been a tremendous way for me to tell how God intervened and protected both Lynne and me from certain death. Makanaka – God is good and we are living proof that He works everything for His honor and glory. This event has created more opportunity in the last week to talk to people about God than I’ve had in the entire time I have been here. I can’t wait until I begin the trek home with my buffalo trophy (the cast on my arm) and tell the story over and over about God’s providential care. I have been assured, by both missionaries and locals, that the story of this miracle will stay around for years to come. I thank God that He used me and pray as the story is told that God always receives the glory.
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I can’t remember if the elephant came through on Tuesday or Wednesday. By this time all the events seemed like a very long dream all running together. We are sitting around relaxing when someone spots One Tusker, an enormous elephant with one huge tusk on the right side of his trunk. As we watch him, he slowly paced toward our camp coming within a couple of feet of the vehicle and once again we all pile in. It sounds like a Three Stooges film, but by now we may have piled in if a lizard had come through the camp. To say the least, it was a bit unnerving. One Tusker walked strait through our camp and vanished in the trees. He didn’t seem threatening, but neither did the buffalo while they were munching water lilies.
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