The Mob by John

“ I’ve got some catching up to do”,,,,,,,,,,but I’m going to work backwards

I know that Connie has sent out about Tuesday,but that only went up to lunchtime,,,,,before I tell you what happened next you must understand that when connie and I write about the day, it is simply reporting events and not to build ourselves up,OK?,,,so let me begin.
Well I was driving down ringroad the road that divides the richest part of town from the poorest part of town when I saw a crowd of about 75 to 100 people gathered on the road. I started to slow thinking it was an accident but as the crowd parted to let me through I saw two men beating a man on the ground with heavy sticks,,,,,I jumped out of my car and pushed my way to them and asked them what was going and to stop the beating as the mob was urging them on,,,,,,they stopped when they saw me, I guess they were surprised to see a mazungu in the middle of all this,,,,,they said the man on the ground was a thief and I said he had been punished enough,,,,his head was reduced to a pulp and blood was everywhere, he looked as if one of his arms were broken maybe both because he no longer tried to shield himself from the blows,,,,,,it was unbelievable. As I was talking to one of the beaters the other cracked his stick on the mans head and the sound was sickening,,,,,,,I said that he was a thief but they would be murderers if this went any further,,,,,a women in the crowd shouted at me to leave and mind my own business in her mother tongue,or at least that is the closest translation haha,,,,,,I went to the man on the ground and helped him up and walked him to my car and two other men came to my aid . I said that I was taking him to the police and no one barred my way,,,,,,I couldn’t believe itThen someone pointed out a man to me who was on his cell phone,,,,,he came over to say that it was his house that the man with two others had tried to break into ,,,the others had got away,,,,,he was calling the police to come but the police said they wouldn’t so he got into my car with the alleged thief and the two men who helped me and we started to drive to the police station. Then a police car happened to come by and slowed down when they saw the crowd,,,,,they took the man from us and we followed on , when we got to the station I dropped my people off and then I left.
.I was on my way to the hospital when this broke loose and so I carried on and as I drove and as I got nearer to my destination I was wondering if this had really happened:)

Let me go back to last Thursday,,,,,,the beginning of the rains,,,,,,We were on our way to Ognadi up in the foothills,,,,,,connie and george and I were taking a bible study into the hills which is an adventure in itself,,,,,,As we arrive there are two young ladies who want to be baptized so a crowd of fifteen to twenty go hiking down to the river,,,,,,I am dressed in a brightly coloured wrap a tee shirt and my inevitable flipflops(see the pictures) The river is very fast flowing which on the one hand is tricky but at least there are no crocs,,,,,Im baptizing these girls but they hold themselves rigid as the water is a little chilly and it is almost impossible to submerge them and keep my balance,,,,,,I don’t think John thrr Baptist had this much trouble
Then we get back to the house and we get to bless two beautiful babies,,,,well I’m sure they were beautiful if you could ever get to see them,,,,,the mothers cover them up in a ton of blankets
Everybody squeezes into this house which is filling up with smoke from someone cooking in the back and I launch into the book of Jonah and asking the question, When Gods asks us to do something , do we run away like Jonah or do we roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty?????,,,,,,,and then the rains hit!!!!!!its coming down in buckets and as it hits the metal roof the noise is deafening,,,,,,,I scream out my message and George screams out the translation our throats are burning and our eyes are running and every one is looking on as if this is normal. You cannot believe this rain it goes on harder and longer than anything I have experienced. Our study lasts for at least an hour and only as we come to an end does the rain come to an end
At the end of this we are offered Mandazi which just like a doughnut and chia and we cannot leave these things alone so we excuse ourselves before we start looking like one
We jump in our car and head for home and as is usual some one wants a ride so we have this extra man We are coming down the hills and you can imagine the mud,,,,we are slipping and sliding until we come upon a tractor and trailor that has jackknifed across the track blocking our way,,,,,,the kids are everywhere taking sugar cane from the trailor with a wild man with a stick chasing them and cursing them.. Another tractor has come to the rescue only to end up stuck as well and then another tractor comes,,,,,but it is a three wheeler and not much use to man or beast,,,,,,,we have sat here an hour hoping that at some point we would get by and then some one comes by saying there is another way home to which the man in the back chirps up that he knows the way,,,,,,whats the matter with these people,,,,,,,,they never offer information
So now I am reversing back up the track until there is a place to turn and when we find a place its steep sticky with a ditch,,,,we get across and turn the car around and as we try to get back on the track the ground gives way with all the rain and my offside front goes down the into the ditch and my nearside rear is off the ground by 12 inches ,,this is unbelievable and our camera has just lost its power,,,,,so no pictures, sorry, but here is the best bit three men lift up our car and put it on secure ground and nobody breaks a sweat,,,,says me in the driving seat
There a moral to this story,,,,,,,as we were planning to come to Kenya I was thinking we would be running around in a Landcruiser no less and to be honest I was a little disappointed to find that all we could afford was a Toyota rav4,,,are you kidding me but now I am here to tell you that we love ourRAV4,,,,I cannot believe what this thing is capable of and when it gets stuck you can just lift it out,,,,,,,you couldn’t do that with a Landcruiser!!!!!!!