Worth It

Imagine maneuvering a car around miniature canyons carved into the dirt road by the heavy rains. Imagine the car dipping and bucking with the rise and fall of the road. You hope the murky water filling the depressions doesn't hide a depth detrimental to your car.

Why attempt such a drive? I had gone a week without visiting Mama Z because of the rain and I longed to see her. The visit made the drive worth it.

"See you tomorrow," I said as I left their house, "and I won't forget to bring the Bible and the Evangecube." Joy filled me that they had made not just one, but both requests. Mama Z wanted to show her husband the Evangecube (see https://racheljwmk.blogspot.com/2021/11/evangecube-curiosity.html for previous story), and Papa Z wanted a Portuguese Bible with big letters so he could read the old testament.

I woke up the following morning, however, with a headache. A few days earlier I'd had a debilitating migraine so I decided not to risk driving in case the headache increased. "I'll take the Bible and Evangecube to them tomorrow," I told myself.

Finally, sitting on their floor the next day, a sense of belonging and purpose washed over me. On my left Mama Z worked on a beautiful crochet granny square that I had recently taught her how to make. Outside I heard dice being shaken in a metal cup. Young people laughed and talked in Kimwani as they played the game.

Mama Z's son sat in front of me asking English vocab questions. One of the little girls walked past, disturbing a swarm of flies which buzzed up angrily into the air before settling down again. The soft flutter of thin pages being turned pulled at my attention more than anything else. Papa Z sat reading his new Bible. He had reached out for it the moment I pulled it from my bag  and nothing had pulled his attention away since.

His reading put everything into perspective: the terrible road, the harrowing drive, the headaches. None of those things could tarnish the value of bringing the Word of Life to a lost soul. It made everything worth it.