BANDITOS!
So now they
are just starting to cross Mexico, with its wide open spaces and long stretches
of empty roads. This is bandito country. So, clearly a wise person would never say,
“What else could go wrong.”
John had
hired a guide to get them through Mexico, a very good thing for anyone wishing
to get across. So after leaving the
border they were guided through a large city and were beginning to make good
time. Felipe is driving the box truck
with John in the passenger seat. In the
rear view mirror they can see some guys pass the semi and pull up behind
them. They are checking out the
Bronco. They move forward and show a
hand gun out the window, yelling at Felipe and John to pull over. Felipe freaks out! “They have guns, they have guns! What do I
do?” John is watching everything and
turns to Felipe, “Do Not Pull Over!” But
Felipe is totally fixed on the gun thing.
Then the vehicle pulls closer in front and shows an M16 out his
window. Felipe begins to think he really
should pull over. John repeats, “Do Not
Pull Over!” Felipe screams “But they
have guns!” His eyes are huge and his
knuckles are white on the steering wheel.
John yells, “Listen, if we pull over we are dead!” Somehow those were the words needed to spur
Felipe on. He stopped talking, faced
forward and hit the gas. In the mean
time John can see the car next to him with a gun in the window aimed at him. He takes off his hat and begins to pray. (The fervent prayers of a righteous man
availeth much. This was a fervent
prayer.)
All the time
this was going on Tim was behind them in the semi yelling “Don’t pull over man,
don’t pull over.” He is watching the
whole thing, guns flying and the box truck speeding. At one point the banditos pull in front of
the box truck and put on their brakes to get try to get Felipe to stop. Felipe, not wanting to die, just blasted past
them. I think Tim was cheering!!
Further on down
the road the guys in the caravan can see a Federale Check Point. They were not required to stop so they just
blew on through. The banditos
disappeared but Felipe’s foot never left the gas pedal. John said that Felipe was confessing to God all
along the way. I’m sure promises were
made to God in exchange for a longer time on earth.
They still had
not slowed down a lick and there was a town up ahead. The guide who was up ahead must have been
pretty shaken up because they missed a left hand turn. John recognized the road and told Felipe to
turn left. Of course, Felipe had to
argue with that because the guide did not turn left. John said, “Turn left Felipe.” But Felipe wanted to argue and stick with the
guide up ahead. John leaned over to
Felipe and very firmly said, “Turn left or I’m going to punch you in the
face.” Felipe turned left.
At the end
of day five they had doubled the planned distance for this part of the trip. See, God can make something good come out of
every situation.
BAD
TRANSMISSION AND STINKY PEOPLE
The guys got
some sleep that night because they arrived early at their destination. So, you might at this point say “What else
could go wrong?”, but that would not be a wise question.
The next day
was a Sunday. I say that because it’s
really hard to find a mechanic who is open on a Sunday. The box truck lost its transmission. They had to pull off the road as far as they
could and take out the broken transmission fluid line. I did not know this, but transmission fluid
is quite stinky. John had to eventually
get all the way under the truck and transmission fluid was all over the
place. This gets quite interesting
because I had failed to mention earlier that when you cross the first Mexican
border they put a lock on your cargo until you reach the other side. All the guys had put their clothes in the
back of the truck. This was day three
without clean clothes. So John gets out
from under the box truck and doesn’t even have a rag to wipe off with. He now has to go find a mechanic who can help
him fix the broken transmission line that he carries in his oily black hands.
And so he
did. He found a small Mexican village
down the road a bit with a mechanic!!
(Because God is good!) Through
hand gestures and attempted verbal communication the guy understood that he
needed transmission help. That and the
fact that John held the broken line in his hands. So the very nice man gestured for John to sit
while he worked on it. So, John sat and
sat and sat for over two hours. When he
heard someone come in the back he peeked around and saw a young woman carrying
a bag from a store. The guy must have
sent his daughter somewhere to buy the part they needed.
Unbeknownst
to John while he was getting the part, the police had showed up back at the box
truck. They were insisting that the
truck must be moved. After much
attempted communication they realized that it had to be fixed before it could
be moved. Finally, after John got back
the truck was fixed and everyone was happy.
One of the people there saw that he had transmission fluid all over him
and gave him a special hand cleaner.
John was really impressed when the fluid just bubbled off his
hands. And it left the skin behind! (Of
course it probably contains some kind of cancer causing agent but that’s beside
the point.)
A little
side note here, perspective determines how we live our days. Will they be good and prosperous or will they
be depressing and negative. I have come
to find out that John has a positive Christian perspective in almost every
situation. Some may say that the police
were just hassling the guys, trying to get bribe money. John said that he was glad the police were
there. He said he was glad to have police protection in the middle of bandito
territory. We have the choice to view
this how we wish.
BORDER RULES
AND DRUG SNIFFING DOGS
After
traveling all the next day the caravan ended up in a town called Escarscia. They had to stop because there is a rule in
Mexico that they can only drive from 6am to 6pm. It was 6:10 when they pulled into the only
Burger King on this whole trip. Because
it was after 6:00 they couldn’t go any further and had to find a place to park
the semi. By the time they found a spot
they had driven through the entire town.
Remember how I mentioned that the semi was only 12 inches of the
ground? Well, this quaint little Mexican
town had exactly six speed bumps which all measured 13 inches. Tim and John were laughing when they were
telling this. “Yea, we shaved about an
inch off each one.” Maybe the people of
the town appreciated shorter speed bumps.
The next
morning they got to the Mexico/Belize border.
This was a newer border with rules that the guys had not heard of. There was to be only one person in the cab
when crossing the border. (I guess the other person was supposed to get out and
walk across.) When they went through
they got the green light to pull over.
It’s kind of like Dean Rice being singled out at every airport security
they went through during the last trip to Belize.
So now the
inspection begins. They have to open
everything up. There is a new female
inspector running the place and she comes out and starts to climb in the
trucks. John, a very honest and upfront
guy shows her the bike way in the back that had not been tagged for duty fees
yet. He wanted to do the right thing and
pay what was due. So, the inspector
starts to climb down and accidently kicks over one of my kitchen
canisters. It falls to the ground and
out comes a white substance. It got very
quiet. This is bad, very bad. John looks at her and she is not happy. John really didn’t know that it was back
there. No one knew it was back there. John bent down and tasted the substance,
knowing that video cameras were now aimed at him. He looked at the camera and said, “Look, it’s
just sugar!” I had asked Amy, my wonderful daughter-in-law to empty them out
and then put them in the Bronco. She
probably thought she was being nice by letting me keep my sugar. He
looked around as the inspector was getting her paperwork out and said, “It must
have come from this bin.” And just as he
said that he picked up another one of my canisters and the lid came off. And you guessed it, flour came pouring out
all over the ground. At this time the
armed guards were backing up while covering their faces, thinking that maybe
something treacherous was going on here. All was quiet again for a moment. But then the
conversation sounded pretty grim, I’m sure “Get the Dogs” and “Call the
Federales over here” was part of it.
John was at a loss for words. He
was envisioning himself behind bars in the very near future.
But God is
good and John has his ear. After he said
a quick prayer he walked up to the inspector woman and tried to get her to see
that he was an honest man and this was all quite innocent. God softened her heart and all she said was
“This is the first and last time this will ever happen.” She showed mercy.
In the end,
it took the guys two days to get through the final border. John and Tim went home to sleep and then had
to go back the next day to get everything in order.
A few days
later we are sitting around the dinner table again and John actually said these
words, “Next time….”
Proverbs 2:7-8
He (God)
holds victory in store for the upright.
He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless. For He guards the course of the just and
protects the way of His faithful ones.
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