God’s Flying Tire G “May I Tell You a Story?” BY DICK DUERKSEN
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April 2021 AdventistWorld.org
od used a variety of creative ways to reach the apostle Paul. First, He used a blinding flash of light and a loud voice to catch his attention on the road to Damascus. Next came the kind voice and healing touch of Ananias. At another time God used an earthquake while Paul and Silas were chained in a dungeon jail. Then there was the viper on the island of Malta and the dream voice that called to him in Troas. If God had a special job for Paul to do, God did something that caught his attention and then sent him off on a new adventure. He does the same today. When He needs us, He knows exactly how to get our attention and set us off on an adventure that will lead to the conversion of people He has prepared to accept His love! The story of God’s flying tire reminds us that He knows when—and how—to find us. It happened at Chozo, a Zambian community approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the border of Zambia and Angola. In 2015, the year that the Zambia Union Conference crossed the 1 million membership mark, Pastor Simui Akombwa was serving as Zambia Union Conference president. “While the ratio of Adventists to the population of Zambia at that time
was 14:1,” Akombwa remembers, “our North-Western membership was approximately 100:1. One could drive for 120 kilometers [85 miles] without seeing even one Adventist church building.” Though the Adventist Church first came to this province in 1980, the work has grown slowly. Other Christian churches came here many years ago, and the conservative North-Western people look with suspicion upon churches that came later. The only exception to this is those who come to build institutions, such as schools and clinics! “That year,” Pastor Akombwa says, “I felt called to visit churches in the North-Western province in the company of the local conference president. Using my personal Land Cruiser VX, we set out with our spouses (four of us in total) on a 10-day constituency visit to the Copperbelt Conference, one of the eight conferences and fields comprising the Zambia Union Conference.” *** The 10 days went by quickly, including a visit to the farthest point in the conference, close to the border with Angola. The group had left Chavuma and were returning home to Lusaka when God called. Here’s how Pastor Akombwa remembers the moment.
Dust Image: Devon Janse Van Rensburg; Tire: LiptonCNX / iStock / Getty Images Plus / Getty Images
