Only in Africa

I thought and thought about what to call this blog. A few of the other
close choices were Thanksgiving Revelation, Divine Appointment and
God’s sense of Humor. I finally decided on Only in Africa because I
can’t imagine this happening very many other places.

I was invited by an American friend to an American’s family’s home for
a Thanksgiving celebration. We decided that since we all had to work on
Thursday to have the dinner on Wednesday night. I got there and to my
delight there were plenty of people I knew, but also some new faces. We
(the adults) sat  at the table, we let the kids eat anywhere because
there were not enough seats. I enjoyed real Turkey, mashed potatoes,
green bean casserole,  with real French Fried Onions coleslaw, beet
root salad, rolls and Stove Top stuffing. It was almost like being home
and it was wonderful.

Well one woman, whom shall remain nameless was visiting from about 2
hours away, she had met this family on a previous trip to Swaziland and
since she came alone, they invited to come for dinner. She was very
nice and it turns out that she arrived only a few weeks before me, so
we had lots to talk about. About halfway through dinner she mentioned
this car ordeal she had been dealing with. Before I get to her, let
explain my own car ordeal.

My Story: I bought my car first week of Sept. also. Paid in Full to the
dealer and was told that because I am not a permanent resident yet, I
should just register the car in 3 weeks in the Missions name. No
problem, because when I go home they will likely want the vehicle if
it’s still in good running condition. So a month goes by and I am
driving my car unregistered all over Swaziland and South Africa. You
can even cross borders without correct documentation for the vehicle
(that always eases my mind ) So I get a call 3 weeks ago, mid Oct. that
there is a women trying to register her car and it turns out that out
blue books( that’s like a registration form) are messed up and I just
need to change the engine number on my blue book so I must go to the
police station and meet the dealer to get it straitened out. He never
shows up. It turns out he went to South Africa and never told me. I
found out randomly from someone else. The following Monday I go to meet
him again and he forgot so when I call him after he’s already late to
see if he’s on his way he says, I can’t come, I forgot so I will send
“my guy”  He gives me a name. I don’t know if he’s Swazi or American.
He doesn’t know me. He comes and I am there and it turns out there are
2 police stations just blocks apart and I am at the wrong one waiting
and so we are calling each other and describing clothes and all and
finally I say I am on the corner of this and that street and he laughs
and says I will come to you. So then we go to the correct police
station only to come back so some guy at the first station can change
the number. Then I am told I must give them my car to fix it all. I
feel very uncomfortable with this and ask if I can stay with the car
the whole time, they say no. So I say I need to go back to my office
and work. They come later in the day to get my car and a copy of my
license. 2 hours later the guy comes back with my car (Thank God) and
says it’s all set. So I think it’s all set. Oh no my friends, it’s not
even close to all set.  The next day I am out in the rural areas miles
from The city and I get a phone call that they need more documentation
from me and my residency permit, I say I don’t have one and that I was
told I didn’t need. Well I do and I am in the process of getting it, so
I say well can I give you the Missions info. They say yes, come to the
office. Well I can’t go because I am far away and in the middle of a
Bible study.  They want to know when I can come but every good time for
is not so good for them. Finally I call the dealer (an American) and
say, please get this taken care of I paid you 2 months ago for a car
and I have spent days trying to get it settled you have the info they
need and I don’t (at the time my supervisor here is in the States and
the info is locked in his office). He says no problem, I am just down
the street I will handle it. Good I think, I can sleep peacefully and
continue on in ministry and have a car, etc. J the next day, another
call, they still hadn’t received the paperwork. Everytime I try to call
the dealer, he doesn’t pick up. I leave text messages, no reply. I am
upset, I can do nothing and so I leave it in God’s hands and stop
answering the phone when the women calls me. I have no new answer for
her. She finally stops calling and I think, it’s taken care of. Then a
week later she calls and says, she needs to take my plates and switch
them with this other car’s plates, but again, my time is no god for her
and her times are no good for me and so we are at a stand still.

Her Story: She bought a car first week of Sept. It got shipped from
South Africa to Swaziland with 2 other cars that had been purchased.
When you buy a car here, you must wait three weeks before you can
register it, but it’s ok because you are still allowed to drive it. So
when she went to register it, she was told that her paperwork for the
car and the car numbers didn’t match up and that someone had switched
half of her car’s info with another cars info. The only to fix this was
to find the other owner and switch plates, change the paperwork, which
required visits to the police station, the dealer, some office, etc.
It’s not an easy problem to ix, like they tell you,  oh you just have
to change your blue book  So for 2 months she fought and kept noticing
that things were not lining up, finally they said you JUST have to
switch plates with the other person. But the other person was never
available so they went ahead and just made her new plates with the
correct license plate number on it.

We go outside so she can show me what to change on my blue book and she
is very helpful, when we get to the car, I notice her car is the same
make and model, just a different style that mine and that her license
plate is the same as mine, she is the other car, we are having
thanksgiving dinner together and I say, I should just take your old
plates, but she has turned them in.  She tells me she had the same
problem with the dealer not answering calls and gives me the name of a
guy who helped her out. Turns out it’s the guy I met that day at the
police station (this time I know what he looks like) Only in Africa can
there be 2 cars driving with the same plates and registration and
no-one is rushing to get it fixed. Only God could orchestrate a meeting
of 2 people who lives hours apart ad use an American holiday in a
foreign country to make that happen.  My saga unlike hers is not over
because I am still waiting on my papers for permanent residency, I come
to find out, I also need a tax ID number and a pin number before I can
register my car. Please pray this gets cleared up as soon as it can, it
requires me to find someone who can get me and ID and Pin number in a
timely manner and that’s not easy to do here.