Hi all,
Well... I survived another rollover accident Thursday--I'm fine, no one was critically injured. God's hand was extremely evident in protecting/rescuing us. Ten of us were driving in a YFC vehicle (Toyota Venture) in the middle of a 3-vehicle convoy driving a YFC Canadian team up to the remote village of Olifants Drift to do an outreach. I was a front passenger in the Venture. As we were coming into a turn on the dirt/sandy road, our left rear tire blew, sending the Venture out of control...drifting/sliding back and forth (imagine being on ice and trying to regain control). The rim of the blown tire dug into the dirt causing the Venture to flip in the air, land once on its roof, and land upright on its wheels (so one roll). The worst injury sustained was one of the leaders from Canada, Charlotte, who fractured a vertebra in her middle-lower back. Of course, I was concerned how my previously-broken neck would do as we rolled, but amazingly, though most everyone else hit their heads hard, I did not hit my head at all! My head/neck did not hit anything and I was able to walk out of the Venture by myself. Truly there does not seem to be a good explanation for this apart from the hand of God.
The windshield and back window blew out, as did the window right next to me. But I have no cuts or lacerations. I believe only Potlako (next to me in the front center) had a cut, and it was minor. None of our extremities were crushed. The four in the very back did not have seatbelts on (there are none back there), yet none of us or our extremities left the vehicle. My ipod was found on the road outside, the force of the roll ripping the earbuds out of my ears.
I can even remember that my glasses flew off my face during the roll, but I actually caught them in mid-air at armslength away! Right away once we'd landed upright (which is also amazing..and allowed everyone to evacuate much more easily and safely), I was able to ask if everyone was ok, and let myself out of the car. Also, although there is not a roll bar or roll cage on the Venture, the roof did not crush in much at all when we landed on the roof. Some of the guys who know more about vehicles said that is miraculous that it didn't collapse on impact more than it did.
The accident occurred in seemingly one of the worst places possible. We were in the middle of nowhere...literally--no villages, no houses, no side roads, no cell phone reception for at least another 30 minutes. There was no way to call for help, and even if we could, it would take half an hour to reach us. In the entire time we'd been driving on the deserted dirt road (about 30 minutes I believe), we had only seen one other car on the road. But the next beautiful display of God's hand was that within 5 minutes of the rollover, two police vehicles "happened" to be driving by! So they were able to transport the worst victims to Mochudi for help and get the investigation process underway. The cause was definitely determined to be the blown tire, so there are no charges for our driver. She was commended for staying as calm as she did. The police investigators feel that there was potential for fatalities.
I stayed at the roadside with the rest of the team, along with 3 others from the Venture who were ok. We camped out under some trees for about 6 hours while the police came to investigate and we brought other another vehicle to transport us home. During that time I shared my testimony from my first rollover accident in Colorado, we just hung out, some skipped rope and played ultimate frisbee, and the time actually flew by. Amazingly, after changing the blown tire with the spare, the Venture was actually still drivable! The front and back windshields had blown out, but one of the guys drove it back to Mochudi carefully, with the other two cars behind. It was quite the sight to see them driving with no windshield but with the windshield wipers on to ward off any potential birds! The Venture is totaled though in the sense that the body/doors/windows are so bent up that it's not worth the cost of fixing it.
I just have a few bruises and some soreness. My neck feels fine, just a bit tighter and sore, but my rotation ability is still there and no major pain at all. In fact, I've only taken 4 Advil tablets since the rollover (none yesterday or today)! Everyone in the Venture was home and fine (just sore) the same day, except Charlotte from the Canada team (the leader Kevin's wife). She is still in the hospital today, but I just talked to Kevin and he told me she was walking to the bathroom today and they took the IV out. They think she will be able to be med evacuated to Canada next week to get optimal care there. Charlotte is here with the whole family--husband Kevin and teenage sons Jesse and Jake, so it's good that they've been able to be together at this time. Please pray for her, and for the family.
We had good fellowship Thursday night, helping us process and release our emotions...had a long time of worship together (I just learned it was about 3 hours!). I think we all have realized how it could have been so much worse, and that God's hand was all over us. Some fitting ones I led were "You Never Let Go," "Trading My Sorrows -- "I am pressed, but not crushed; persecuted, not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed..." and "Our God" -- Into the darkness You shine, Out of the ashes we rise...Our God is greater, Our God is stronger, God You are Higher than any other; Our God is Healer, Awesome in Power, Our God, Our God...And if our God is for us, than who could ever stop us, and if our God is with us, than what could stand against?! Our God is greater...".
Also, I'll share my journal entry prayer the night before the accident. I ended my prayer with this: "Held. Embraced. Secure. Safe." So "Safe" was the last word written in my journal before the rollover in which His hand kept us safe.
Then my daily devotional the day of the accident, which I read after the accident, started this way:
Our Lord, we thank Thee that Thou has kept us.
Rejoice indeed that you see My Hand in all the happenings and the keepings of the day. Protected, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea; so are you protected in all things. Rely on this and go forward...Go forward unafraid."
And as I was flipping to that entry, I saw the one from Monday (11 July), entitled "Guardian Angels":
"You are Mine.Once I have set on you My stamp and seal of ownership, all My hosts throng to serve and protect you. Remember that you are children of a King. Try to picture a bodyguard of My servitors in the Unseen, waiting, longing, efficient to do all that is necessary for your well-being."
Yesterday, I went with two other passengers to get officially checked out at the private hospital in Gaborone just to be sure everything is fine. I had X-rays of my neck, jaw, shoulder, chest, lower back...everything is fine. Praise God. My neck, of course the biggest concern, is stable and the vertebrae are in proper position (remember the big concern after the accident was the tendons/ligaments between the top two vertebrae). My daily bible reading plan yesterday included this verse: God: “The sinews of your neck were iron.”-Isaiah 48:4 (in context it's not a compliment, but in my case, it's definitely a positive truth, glory be to God!). Amen!
The radiologist/doctor thought I might have a screw loose in my neck (on the titanium plate connecting C2 and C3), but upon closer examination, it seems secure (they think it was just an overexposure on that one X-ray). So...it's only once that I've been medically diagnosed to have a screw loose (on my halo 3.5 years ago)...apparently now I don't...at least physically :). The others are fine too. I just came back in from playing a short soccer match after the tournament we hosted in Mochudi with the Canadians.
The outreach on Saturday and the youth outreach day-camp Mon-Wednesday went well...but I can share about that another time...kinda got eclipsed by Thursday's events. Thanks so much for all the prayers during those days and on Thursday. Wednesday my daily bible plan had included Joshua 3:5 -- "Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you." I had of course, been thinking in terms of wonders in Olifants Drift village during the outreach the next day. Instead, we saw the Lord do wonders on the dusty road there.
Thanks for your prayers. God is good!!!
Blessings from Botswana,
Em
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