Crash!

Today I planned to write about our trip to Kenya, but that will have to wait. We had a new adventure. As we were coming home from church on Sunday, we stopped at a red light when......................CRASH! We were hit from behind by a transport filled with about 20 people. The people piled out and started yelling and waving fists at the driver. Fortunately, there were two policemen at the corner who saw the accident and came to restore order among the transport passengers. What a change it was to be happy to see the police!! Our rear bumper was seriously damaged. His bus, which was a wreck to begin with, was even more damaged. The police identified him as the person at fault, which was a real relief to us. So, a new experience began, as we went through the whole process of a traffic accident in the Congo. Immediately after the accident, one police officer climbed in the back of our truck and the other got in the transport and we headed for the police station. The driver stopped, at one point, came to our window and pleaded with us to forgive him and just go on our separate ways. That wasn't an option, so off we went to the police station.

There will be no pictures of the events there, since you're not allowed to take pictures around a police location or officers.

The police station was in an old house with broken doors and windows, cement floors and lots of spider webs. We were ushered into a tiny room that held several small wooden desks and a couple of police officers sitting at them. We were given a seat in plastic lawn chairs and proceeded to file the report. After two hours of answering questions which were taken down in long-hand on a blank piece of inlined paper, the police report was finished. The report contained amazing details of Brent’s life, including his parents' names, how many children we have, the accident details, and even his personal feelings about the event. The officer now knows more about Brent than our family does. We asked for a copy but were told that they have no copy machines. Then the policeman said that we should try to work things out among ourselves. Next,we went with the young driver and looked at the damage again. It would require a new bumper, but the driver wanted to repair it. His transport was held together with masking tape, so we didn't think his repair job would do. They impounded his bus and will keep it until the problem is settle. We are concerned about the young driver, who will have no work until this matter is finalized. But what else can we do? Monday we went to the insurance agency, which was closed?? Nothing is ever easy in the Congo! We were prepared to enter a complicated arena. As we waited outside the office, we got a call from the church transportation person saying we didn't need to go there after all, but to return to the police office to get a copy of the report, which we had tried to do before. Back we went to the little room to begin efforts to get the report. We were not encouraged. Then suddenly all the officers in the room jumped to their feet and stood at attention. The chief of the police "just happened" to come into the room to see a "zombie" (bad guy in Swahili) who was sitting by us. It was at just the moment when we needed help. When he saw our badges, he began to talk about Christ and the atonement. He actually gave a perfect first lesson from Preach My Gospel. Then he ordered the officers to get our paperwork done TODAY! They were not, but Brent did get the information he needed to go to the insurance office. The saga continues. It's always a long process, even at home to take care of these kinds of things. It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get all this done the Congolese way!