| I'm Tired of Too Many Accidents!
Written by Dale & Bethsaba Nafziger
October 7, 2005
PS 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
On Thursday, July 29 2004, the vehicle my wife Bethsaba and I were driving slipped on one of the hairpin curves ubiquitous throughout the Himalaya and five seconds later we were hanging from our seatbelts, upside down in a small stream in the middle of a ravine. Less than one year later, on July 17 2005, I received a telephone call informing me that our company truck had gone over a retaining wall and plunged 300 ft to the river below, killing the driver and seriously injuring a company employee, Ram Kaji.
As our office manager Sunil and I returned from the accident scene later that day, the poorly maintained taxi we had chartered for the journey plunged into a culvert. Sunil and I quickly rushed to a hospital emergency room for treatment—the same hospital where our colleague was admitted earlier in the day. Needless to say, by bedtime, I felt like I had been through a washing machine "wringer"! Before celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in Thailand this past January, Bethsaba and I had been warned about "Thai driving." Compared to Nepal; what we saw there was more like "school boys in shorts"—women leisurely driving scooters, using turn-signals when changing lanes...whew! A quantum difference from the land where the loudest horn rules. When I first came to Nepal, 25+ years ago, it seemed a bit unusual for people to stand up in church ask for prayer before departing on a bus journey. Now, however, I rarely walk our children to the school bus stop in the morning, without whispering a prayer—when thinking about what the new day might potentially hold. Oh God, you are indeed our refuge and our strength.
Dale Lee Nafziger, Global Ministries, Nepal
Dale & Bethsaba Nafziger are missionaries with the United Mission for Nepal. Dale serves as an electrical engineer. Bethsaba works for the health department of the United Mission to Nepal in midwifery and general nursing. For More Information
James Vijayakumar
Area Executive
Southern Asia
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland,Ohio 44115
216-736-3228
Phone: 866-822-8224 ext. 3228
Fax: 216-736-3203
vijayj@ucc.org
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