Snakes and Thieves

This past month we’ve had several encounters with slithering critters. I’ll first mention the cold blooded ones. I had stepped out our front door (which actually faces our back yard) and some rustling in the leaves caught my eye.Immediately I realized it was a snake and shouted for Tracy. By the sound of my voice he knew it must be a snake as the workers had been clearing out a lot of brush. Telling me to go to the container for a hoe, Tracy slowly approached the snake and then realized there were two. The cobras, who were mating and already in an aggressive state, darted towards him. Grabbing a plastic tote that was within reach he threw it at the snakes who in turn disappeared into thin air. All this happened within a matter of seconds and where they slithered is still a mystery. Today we have a worker clearing out what we call the “snake pit”, a tangle of vines and brush in the corner of our yard.

Several days after this episode a spitting cobra hid itself behind a bag of charcoal on the Hiltys’ patio. With a long bamboo pole one of the workers, King, disabled it and Tracy later decapitated it with a hoe.

Now for the warm blooded snakes. A month ago several bags of brand new shoes came tumbling over the walls of Makeni. Actually the thieves, who were trying to avoid the road, snuck over the wall with the shoes they’d stolen. Encountering the trusty watchdogs, Sally and Bobby, the thieves dropped the large bags and fled. I thought it’s just like God to provide for the orphans in this way!

Last week we were awakened by a constant horn honking (or tooting as it’s called here), obviously a signal to alert the residents. With a flashlight and club Tracy investigated, encountering one of the guards along the way. One of the security guards had seen the thief climb over the wall but apparently all the noise scared him off. This event has enlightened me on Jesus’ words in John 10:1 (ESV), “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”

Sandwiched between the above two episodes was a closer encounter. Tracy, Adam and I were downtown walking along Cairo Road after taking money out at the ATM. Tracy led the way and a pedestrian approached and as Tracy tried to get out of his way the man grabbed his shoulders. Tracy immediately went for his billfold which was in his back pocket. As he did, his hand touched the hand of a man behind him who had lifted his wallet halfway out. Later we learned from Adam that there was a third man involved in this scheme who tried to exclude Adam from the action. Immediately Tracy turned and with fingers pointed began loudly shouting at the thief, “What are you doing? This man is a thief! He tried to steal my wallet.” I shouted, “kwalala,” which means “thief”. No one came to our aid, but we’ve since found out this is how Zambians respond. The thief seemed unfazed by our aggressive response and disappeared into the crowd. We later ate lunch at a restaurant and sat next to the retiring head of prosecution for the Lusaka police department. We had an interesting discussion with him, specifically about the rise of violent crime.

We’re thankful to God that He has kept us safe from the designs of snakes~both reptiles and evil men. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to be salt and light in this part of the fallen world.