Up a creek with more than we deserve

Recently, we were able to get out of town for a few days at the beach. Something we always look forward to. This particular trip brought on a little more adventure than we anticipated. Here are some thoughts I took note of while on that trip...

The scene in front of my right now is one I think many people would pay big money for, and yet we get to do this on a bi-annual basis - On a beach, no one else, just Kelly, Ethan, Avro, and myself. There are 4 fishing boats way out on the water as waves gently roll in. A calm breeze passes under out shade tent, protecting us from a harsh sun. Birds are chirping somewhere behind me as I sit here watching for any whales on the ocean horizon.

This was far from the scene 2 days ago on our drive here. Our initial plan was to leave Lubango and meet Alex & Isaline at the beach. We were heading out by ourselves to this beach we've been to once before (a year and 4 months ago). We had a GPS track, and I figured that was good enough to find the beach again. As we travelled, we made the turn off the main road for the final hour and a half leg off-road. Things didn't quite seem familiar, but we credited it to the green scenery which was not in bloom last time. Things didn't seem familiar was confirmed when we reached a river that would require crossing. We drew near over some rough terrain which should have been our first sign to turn around, before stopping to get out and inspect the river. It was maybe 6" deep at the most, however it was soft sand on the bottom. At first I said we need to turn around when Kelly re-examined the GPS track and found there was an alternate way, the way we intended to take, but it was hard to ignore the signs for Piambo Beach. Examining the river once more, I decided it looked good, and the solid road on the other side looked inviting; definitely more inviting than the hour + we would have to backtrack, so I went for it. It started well, maintaining engine RPM and speed over the first 20 meters before... I got stuck. There was seriously maybe 1 or 2 more meters before reaching "solid" sand on the opposite side, but that didn't matter. Where we were was not solid.

I've tried to imagine what getting stuck would be like, since I knew living in Angola it is basically inevitable. I didn't think it would happen on a road nobody expected us to take (not even us), in an area without cell coverage, on a trip where we weren't convoying. For the next hour and a half, we attempted to get unstuck. Some local kids came, curious who/what/why we were here, and helped us to gather rocks to try and create a footing for the truck, but more importantly, they kept all of our spirits up. After that hour and a half, we had a decision to make: Keep trying to dig out, which was only getting us deeper (it was clear we needed something to pull us out. Note: next Windhoek trip, BUY A WINCH). Or hike the 17km to the beach where our friends were. So we grabbed water, some food, and headed out at 1:45pm. The first km was all uphill and took about an hour. Kelly carrying Avro, and I was carrying Ethan. I've done a couple big hikes before, but not with kids. Once we reached the top of the hill, I was gassed and trying not to let Kelly know. I had to lie down, so we took a 10 minute break before continuing in only t-shirt and boxers. Fortunately the rest of the trek was fairly level ground. At 4pm, Kelly's sandal broke, so I tied her sweater around her foot to offer some protection from the stoney road. We were quite a sight I'm sure.


After 9.5 km's of walking (3 hours that felt like all day) we heard a vehicle coming toward us. It was a couple of fishermen heading back inland, so we stopped them and pleaded our case with them. They offered us a ride and took us to a small fishing village near our intended campsite. There was several small huts and one house, the latter which belonged to a Portuguese man named Carlos. We explained our situation to him, but no one wanted to take us the 1km over to the beach, saying that there was nobody camping there. Eventually they sent someone to look, and it was confirmed to their surprise that yes, someone WAS camping there. We wrote a note for Alex to come get us, which was taken by another messenger. I noticed the logo on Carlos' shirt as the same company Alex works for, so I asked Carlos about it, and told him that our friends on the beach we were trying to contact is Alex - his co-worker! Alex arrived, and together with Carlos and another Angolan (also named Carlos) we went back to the river where we pulled the truck out. Hallelujah.

Throughout the whole day, Kelly and the boys were amazing. Ethan walked 4-5 of the km's himself. Kelly had the idea that we should pray for someone who's name corresponded with each letter fo the alphabet, which helped us make good use of the time, and Avro pretty much slept the whole day.

Next time you do this, Marcel, have a winch or take a tracker!

Thank you God for giving us more than we deserve.
--Marcel

A few thoughts from Kelly:

I don't need to recount what happened ... Marcel did a pretty good job of giving all the details. But I want to expand on Marcel's last point ... "Thank you God for giving us more than we deserve." This sentence may make very little sense to those who aren't Christians. What do you mean, "more than we deserve"? I think most of us hold the opinion that if we are decent, kind people who work hard and do our best, then we deserve "good karma"--good should come our way. But throughout the walk, the reality of what the Bible teaches struck me hard. "The wages of sin is death." (Romans 3:23) In light of our almighty Creator, who is wholly good and wholly just (because a god that is anything less is no worthy god at all ...), we are NOT good enough. We are not just kind of bad and mostly good. I think most of us know, deep in our hearts, that we are very, VERY broken. Disobedient. Selfish. Looking for answers in the wrong places and denying God in our day-to-day actions. Sinful.

The reality is we deserve death. But God mercifully provides us with good things every day--sunshine, food, shelter, providence when we are STUCK in a desert with no cell reception. Furthermore, He provided a way to be made right with Him through Jesus Christ. Perhaps you've heard it a million times, but it bears repeating one more time--through Christ, we can find peace and forgiveness with God. And that is no "small hope"--in the middle of a desert, walking with two small children, and ACTUALLY wondering, "What if something SERIOUS happens?"--it was not the hope of finding our friends on the beach that carried us through. It was the hope that NOTHING, not even DEATH, could separate us from Christ. For the Christian, death is not the end. Suffering is not reason to lose hope. Everything is secure and peaceful in Christ, and though we were once an enemy of God, we have been brought over to his kingdom, and we can rest secure there. He truly gives us more than we deserve.

Deep stuff ... eh? Well, that's the sort of thing you think about in the "desert places of life".

Ephesians 2:1-10, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."