Leaving Moz

July 27, 2010
Every time I travel coming or going out of Moz it never fails that major things happen just before I leave. This time was the worst.
First Social Service pulled a fast one on me requiring me to have a police report and an office space for them to sit in when they come for a visit. The office space isn’t such a problem but the police report turned into one as time was shortened by the last minute problems. I had intended to submit it on my way to the airport the next morning but it never happened.
The night before I left during a grand send off for me that the children were putting on I got news that one of my guards had been attacked by thieves on his way to work. He was miraculously saved. The thieves intended to kill him but he fought like Samson. There were 3 of them, 1 with a machete and another with a dagger. They dragged him into a rice field to kill him but something amazing happened. One man from the houses in the area decided to do something and gathered some others to help. I call this amazing because people usually just watch or turn away for fear of getting hurt or killed themselves. Jose was badly cut up and bruised but alive. Joseph took him to the hospital while we prayed and then continued the party. The next morning before I left I went to visit him and prayed a prayer of thanks giving. He knows well that God spared his life.
On the way to visit him I had to bring one of my girls to the local clinic. She had been sick with constipation for 5 days and not said anything until that night before. I never made it to do the police report. SS will have to wait on that one until I return.
On top of all of this I had planned to complete my packing after everyone was in bed. I managed to get some important things off my computer onto my jump drive and had begun packing when the electricity went out; so I slept. My suitcase was packed hurriedly in the morning with clean and dirty clothes crumpled up together and other stuff in chaos. When I arrived in Joburg and opened it I was very ashamed. Everything smelled musty and everything was damp. I was glad to be able to wash it all and pack properly before traveling to countries that wouldn’t understand these things.
Oh yeah… I almost forgot the last bit of trouble. One of the widows placed an old plastic sack with 3 beautiful raw stones in my hand. Her son gets them up north and sells them to whites. She thought I might be able to use them in the jewelry we were making. I just stuffed them into my carry-on. When the bag was checked at customs through the new x-ray machine they saw them. There’s a lady in uniform there that I had had a run in with before and she was elated that she had caught this white criminal smuggling, whatever these things were, out of the country. This lady has a reputation of working bribes out of foreigners. She never gets anything out of me though and I am sure it is a challenge to her. She walked me very slowly to the other end of the airport. I asked her where we were going and she said through glaring eyes that she was taking me to see her boss. “What room? Let’s go! I’ve got a plane to catch.” I walked faster, my plane had arrived and I had little time to mess around with this stuff. The language barrier was a hindrance so they asked me to go get Joseph. I had to run through the airport and up the stairs to get him as he was waiting with the children to see my plane take off. We ran back to the waiting interrogators. He told them the same story as they watched me with eyes that had watched too many detective movies. Finally they let me go leaving those precious stones behind.
Whew! The rest of my journey has been quite boring.