Yesterday I was supposed to leave with Fany and her friend at 7:30 a.m. to go to the Women's Conference. I didn't consider setting an alarm. At 7:32 when I woke up I could hear Fany outside. A few minutes later I heard her say, "I think Mary Lynn isn't awake yet." They had been bathed and ready since 6 a.m.
I threw on clothes. brushed my hair and teeth, and ran out the door. We ended up being right on time, actually a little early, for the event. Everything was fine.
The conference was for women who have been abused or are suffering abuse. We also talked about the laws and how to help someone who is in an abusive situation. There was a nice time of worship and then prayer at the end. Everyone really enjoyed our time together. A friend of mine decided that she will press charges against her husband for emotional and physical abuse. We are going to help her with that tomorrow.
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| Nathan opening the conference with his shofar |
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| My friend Oneida |
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| Women in worship |
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| Ilsa came from Danli |
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| Gracie Murphree taught us the laws and definitions of abuse |
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| Gracie guarding her heart... |
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| Pastora Ruth - I love her smile in this one |
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| Pastora Ruth preaching |
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| Two of the most powerful and awesome women I know - Gracie and Pastora Ruth |
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| I learned today that this woman's husband told her she was not allowed to attend the conference She attended and won a new bible. She was so excited to have her own bible! Then she returned home to have glasses thrown at her last night. But she was still at church this morning. |
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| We enjoyed a delicious lunch! |
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| My guests - Ilsa, Fany, Erika and Ana |
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| Fany |
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| Ilsa and Fany |
After the conference I had the scariest experience of my life. I am thinking back, and I honestly can't remember a time I was ever more afraid. Before I go on, let me say that I have learned from this experience and will not allow it to happen again.
I dropped off Ilsa and Fany at our house, then drove toward the airport to drop off two more people and pick up some flyers from Molly. It was raining at my house, but the rain had not arrived yet at Molly's house. Molly handed over the flyers and asked if I could give a friend of hers a ride to Los Pinos too. I said sure. I was headed that way.
It started to rain right at the entrance for Los Pinos. We came to Ana's house first, but Ana said she didn't want to get out in the rain, which was coming down hard at that point. She said she'd rather ride with me to the pastor's house to drop off the flyers at the church in Los Pinos. Erika decided to ride along too. So we headed up the hill, dropping off Molly's friend along the way.
I stood outside in a DOWNPOUR - the kind of rain where you are instantly drenched to the skin the second you get out of the car. No matter how hard I banged on the pastor's gate, nobody answered. Ana came and stood beside me with an umbrella, which did feel nice since the rain was cold. We were both soaked and neighbors were yelling that the pastor was not at home. Confused, I called Molly. I thought she had called the pastor to let him know I was coming, but she had not.
As we headed back down to Ana and Erika's homes I noticed the rain was starting to flow like a river down the road. A young girl I've known for years was the only person outside. She was huddled in a doorstep, caught outside in the rain too. There was no way for me to help her. In fact, that was when I realized that the water was coming down the hill so swiftly that we should not be driving on the road.
I said to Ana that I didn't feel comfortable driving and I wanted to wait out the rain. She agreed and we pulled over onto a side road that had no water flowing down it at all. It felt like a safe shelter. Below I noticed buses, first one, then a second, then a third, all pulled over, waiting out the rain as we were. I decided I had made the right decision. If the buses weren't driving on these roads then neither should I. We waited about five minutes.
Meanwhile, Ana called home to explain why we were so late. She left her 16, 11, 5 and 2 year old at home with her sister-in-law. Her son said they were hiding under Ana's bed because the roof had blown off the house. Not something you hear often in the US, but (unfortunately) very common in Los Pinos.
Ana was anxious to get home, but didn't want to take any chances. She told them to stay under the bed until she got there. At that point we started to pray out loud together. Knowing Ana's house is one of the strongest in Los Pinos I began to worry for Erika's house.
Eventually the rain let up a little. The buses turned around and headed down the mountain. I fell in line behind them with my flashers on, going very slowly. I drove on whichever side of the road the river was not flowing as we took the curving path downward.
Finally we got to the turnoff for Erika's house. Like the side road where we had been waiting out the storm, Erika's road was clear. I told her I would drive her as far as I could, as long as the road was okay, and we headed from the valley, back up the side of the mountain. Everything was fine, until it started to sleet or hail, or whatever it does at warmer temperatures. I wasn't sure the windows would hold up. It was the first time I have ever literally seen the rain coming down in "sheets". Now I know what that saying means.
We made it to the path to Erika's house. I was desperate to get out of there, but I couldn't kick her out into that horrible storm. Normally when it rains everyone just stops where they are and waits for it to pass. So Erika was calm, waiting in the back seat. Meanwhile, I was desperate to get Ana back home to her kids. Little did I know the worst was still ahead of us.
Once it stopped coming down in sheets I encouraged Erika gently to go, but the storm was still heavy and she waited it out. Finally (only a couple of minutes later) the rain actually did let up, just long enough for Erika to get out of the car. As soon as she scurried down the hill it poured again. Ana yelled that she saw a mudslide crossing the path where Erika had to go. I didn't know what to do. Soon Ana said, "There! She is in! Erika just went into her house!"
I headed back down, relieved that Erika had made it safely. The roads there are steep, but they were clear and not too covered in rain. Then we got back to the main road. At the same time we both said, "We can't go." The main road was a raging river. The water was coming down from the right so hard that when it hit the speed bump in the road, it flew up and came down like a huge waterfall. Rocks floated by. A soccer ball. All sorts of garbage and stones. The water was dark with mud.
Once again, we had to stop. There was no way I could drive in that water. We were so close to Ana's house. Yet so far. But we were safe. Praise God, we were safe. Ana and I prayed more. We thanked the Lord for keeping Erika safe and for our safe shelter in that place. We thanked Him for my car, which is strong and reliable. We prayed for the kids in Ana's house. And that the water would lower so we could pass.
I guess the water must have lowered. At least it seemed to. A big flat bed truck drove past, so I followed it down to Ana's house.
The road we were on is the valley. On one side is the hill where Erika lives. The hill where Ana lives on the other side. There is a creek that runs through normally. The creek was still there, rising high at the bridge by Ana's house. But the water in the road was running almost as powerfully as the creek.
I pulled off of the road to let Ana out. The flat bed in front of me stopped. The side wall of the bridge was missing. All of the water from the road gushed off the side of the bridge into the creek. Water came from Erika's mountain and from the road, joined together at the bridge and poured into the creek. It was a mess.
I told Ana I couldn't make it through that much water. She said we have to just wait until the water lowers. I couldn't help but think about how my buddy Saul had almost been killed by a car that came down the mountain from Ana's side and went into the creek. It is only right now that I realize that event had nothing to do with rain - it was bad brakes.
I couldn't tell if the current on the bridge was strong enough to pull a car into the creek, which was now a fast flowing river.
We sat and watched as a few cars drove through. I was not convinced. I told Ana I would have to drive far to the left, but she was worried about the invisible overflowing drainage ditch on that side.
Then a car came through and died in the middle of the bridge. It didn't float away, which had been my fear. For a while it seemed that the car would remain there, blocking the bridge. Then 10 or more people waded in to help push the car out. Ana and I thought the car died because the motor got wet. She told me not to drive to fast because the waves would wet my engine too.
I noticed that even with all of those people, it was really difficult for them to push the car. Another car passed, and then the truck behind me started to go. I told Ana to hop out, I was going to follow after the truck.
She ran over to a porch nearby and waited. Meanwhile, a woman who had helped push the car banged on my window and yelled something about the mountain. Then a boy, about 18 years old, dressed in only shorts and shivering from the cold came over to my car. He said, "Señora! You can't pass. The road is full of glass. The car's motor didn't die. All of it's tires are popped. You have to turn around."
Turning around was something I had briefly considered. But I know that road. It is horrible with a little bit of rain. I knew it would be impassable. That wasn't even an option. Today on the news I saw people wading through water up to their shoulders. I would have been exactly where they were, if I had turned around.
I considered leaving the car and spending the night at Ana's. But what if the car was swept away? Or stolen? That was not a great option either.
A few more cars drove across the bridge. The boy and I held our breath and watched. None of them appeared to have flat tires.
The rain seemed to let up. The water seemed to be going less swiftly. I looked at the boy and he looked at me. I said, "I am going." He said, "Go Señora! If something happens we are here to help you!" (I have never been called señora before, and hope not to be called señora again for many years, but at that moment those words sounded so sweet.)
I yelled, "I GO WITH GOD!" and I slowly started across the bridge. As I got halfway across a car decided it was going to cross from the opposite direction. I couldn't believe it! Of all the things I had taken into consideration, this was not one. There was not enough room on the road for both of us, but I was more than half way across and not about to stop. I laid on the horn and kept moving slowly and steadily across the bridge. When I was almost nose to nose with the guy he swerved off toward the drainage ditch. I must admit, I didn't look back to see what happened to him.
On the other side I took a deep breath and started to cry. I still get teary, thinking about it. Most of my tears were of gratitude. I cried because God had protected me, my car, and everyone in it.
During one of times we were waiting, Ana had told me not to drive by the factory on the way home. She said the road gets really bad there, which makes sense because it is low ground. I know people who have blown tires there because the manhole covers come off in the rain. If the road is wet and you can't see the pavement your whole wheel can fall inside.
However, when I got to the corner by the buses, the road where I wanted to turn was blocked off. The little street market was destroyed and about twenty people were standing around looking at something. All I could see was the door of a car and the flooded road. There didn't seem to be a car attached. I never found out what was going on there. The news today only said that the vendors lost everything.
I was forced to go the way that Ana told me not to go, instead of the short cut that led directly to my house and to higher ground.
Crying, I continued on. My plan was to catch the short cut a little ways up. But that was where I saw the worst of everything. Cars at that intersection had water mid-way up their windows. There was garbage floating everywhere. Two or three men were pulling a motorcycle out of the flood. No short cut for me.
Traffic was slow, but uneventful from that point forward. I called Ana to make sure she got to her house. We both grumbled about the man who had crossed the bridge from the other direction at the same time that I went across. She was home. Her chickens lost all of their feathers, but with more nails her roof would be okay in a day or two. And the kids were scared, but fine.
As I pulled up to my house, all I wanted was to be inside, out of the rain. Fany's husband, Santos, was working on his car in the driveway. He stopped me to chat. I don't think he understood how traumatized I was. He asked if he could borrow my car to buy a part that he needed to fix his car. Normally Santos never asks me for anything, but if he does, I always say yes. As soon as I heard that he wanted to drive somewhere I told him NO! You can't drive! All of the roads are flooded. There are no pothole covers on any of the potholes. I almost just died!
Santos probably thought I was crazy because it was raining steadily, but not hard at our house at that point.
It rained all through the night, that same steady rain. I changed into warm, dry clothes. Then Fany made dinner and helped me relax. By the time I came home last night my kitchen floor was flooded. Fany's was even worse. I kept thinking that if our nice houses are like this, what is happening in Los Pinos?
Today the rain stopped. I woke up still a little shaken. At church I gave a testimony about the whole experience.
What I have now learned is that if it rains in Los Pinos, you have about 20 minutes to get out safely. Otherwise, this is a typical occurrence. I have already decided that I will limit my trips into Los Pinos during the rest of the rainy season. On the days that I do go to Los Pinos, at the first drop of rain, I am getting out of there. That was enough of a life lesson for me.
