FACED WITH DEATH, RESCUED BY GOD!

I love ministry. I love to travel. So when I travel for ministry purposes, the joy I feel is indescribable. That’s exactly what I experienced between Wednesday, 13th November, 2019 and Thursday, 21st November, 2019. I had traveled by bus from Kigali to Nairobi. I went mainly to minister at Kenyatta University as a main speaker for a 2-day conference. After a series of interesting events, I had to postpone my journey to Kampala - which was my next stop - from Tuesday, 19th November, 2019 to Thursday, 21st November, 2019. I was travelling with the night bus. So at approximately 7:30pm Kenya time, the bus took off. We had had two stops so far; first to buy food and then later to pick up more passengers. It had been raining for a while so the roads were quite slippery.

Around midnight I wanted to sleep although I wasn’t sleepy. Since it was dark and my phone was off I had almost no way of engaging my mind. I then began to pray and meditate and fell asleep in the process. In what seemed like a few minutes later, I suddenly heard cries and screams from the bus. I realized we had veered off the road and before I could breathe in, I found myself looking for a way to get out of the bus which apparently had somersaulted and fallen in a ditch in a place called Kericho, just about 5 hours into the journey.

A pose before taking off from Kigali to Nairobi - Wednesday, 13th November, 2019

By God’s grace I did find a way. I later realized I was nose bleeding apart from some minor pains I was feeling in some parts of my body. However, I could not believe I survived such an accident for two main reasons: First, the fact that I came out of the bus when it was overturned with the tires facing up. Secondly, I had not buckled my seat belt because the buckler on my seat was faulty. Meanwhile, a 20-year old young man passed on in the process. Whether or not it was instant, I cannot tell but he was confirmed dead when we reached the hospital about an hour after the incident. At this point I will spare you all other details and go straight to the point. Below are 6 lessons I learnt from the accident:

1. Death is no respecter of persons and time. It can happen to anyone at any time anyway possible. What you have planned for counts for nothing. This realization challenged me to continue to live life with all humility and serve God and people as much as I can and I should.

2. Today is all you have to do what you have to do. It’s okay to plan for tomorrow and next year and next 10 years and yes you should. Nonetheless that is hope which may not be a reality. Actually, no matter how long you live, one day you will be one heartbeat away from leaving this earth. Unfortunately, you have no idea when that day will be and that’s why you need to know that today is all you have and therefore must be optimized for God’s glory!

3. The greatest and most important life discovery is to discover God’s purpose for your life, why He brought you to this earth. After all, that is what you will account for in the afterlife. Indeed, it is better to be dead and not know life than to be alive and not know why. Now that you still have life, seek God – the one who made you and who knows why – so that you can discover His purpose for your life and pursue it till your last breath.

It is better to be dead and not know life than to be alive and not know why

4. Human life is more precious than any material thing. It was interesting to realize that just like me, everyone else was first concerned about their lives and safety before anything else. No one cared about their phones, bags or even ID cards. Actually, I went to the hospital without my bags, shoe, and phone. I recovered them the next morning at the police station. Unfortunately, my laptop, ID cards (not my passport though), ATM card and diary got stolen in the process. Nonetheless, I was so grateful for my life. After all, I wouldn’t need all those things if I had died or sustained major injuries. Dear friend, what you have or do not have doesn’t matter. Value your life and that of others. Love people and use things and not the other way round.

5. God is sovereign. Anyone who saw the pictures of the bus after it was towed to the police station wondered how we survived that accident. This experience increased my understanding of God’s promises and my faith in His promises. No matter how much evil the devil plans for you, you will survive as long as God does not allow it to happen. Trust Him!

6. True safety is found in Christ. The safest place to be is to know that you have eternal life. I remember how after I informed one of my sisters about the accident, she advised me not to travel to Kenya anymore or at least travel by air if I decide to go there again. I had to quickly remind her to change her thinking. Is it any safer to travel by air? What’s even the rate of survival with a plane crash? How many buses travel from Kenya to Uganda daily? And how many accidents have been recorded? You see, the fact that you met an obstacle while pursing something worthwhile, does not mean you should stop pursuing it. No! unless of course your pursuit is not valuable to you. In fact, you can even decide not to move out of your house for a year and you will be surprised how you can meet death in your own house. Rest in Christ and work for His glory. Do not fear, the LORD is with you!

Rest in Christ and work for His glory. Do not fear, the LORD is with you!