STAYING AT ST.GEORGE

Can you come for dinner on Thursday night?  An invitation like that is hard to refuse. Having been on the road for six months, most of our eating has been around the caravan ... with the occasional bakery bee-sting!

We were looking forward to connecting with Sam and Latasha. They had both been students at The Pines, where John and I volunteered for several years. Both were great students, although Sam had an objection to wearing shoes and socks in class. Hadn't he been brought up on the farm in the country? His soles were tough. It was sternly explained to him that OH&S has different rules in town.

At the caravan park we chose a nice shady site ... the season is over, said the owner. Just choose any site that suits you. One night we were the only caravan in the park ... which was a bit lonely; it was nice when some good company arrived.

And we had a great dinner with Sam and Latasha, Esther, Lily, Samson and Hope.

Latasha is amazing. She was my star pupil at The Pines, and I recall telling her that she was ready then to hit the speaking trail. Others were good too, but they needed a little more practice. Latasha presented everything with style, passion and conviction. I want to be a motivational speaker, she claimed.

Little did she know that a few years later she would have the greatest story to tell. Returning tired from Brisbane, she fell asleep while driving, and veered into the path of a B-Double. The poor driver did everything he could to avoid her – he tugged his steering wheel so hard it buckled out of shape. Under the truck, Latasha drifted in and out of consciousness with considerable injuries, and clearly remembers thinking: I have a choice now of living or dying. Samson, her third child was with her, unharmed. Thinking of Sam, the two girls and Samson, she decided she better live, and asked God to make that happen.

So the road to recovery commenced, with positive input from every quarter. But not without its considerable moments. We were at C.O.C. Chinchilla two years ago, when Sam and Latasha presented the whole story, including graphic pictures! Yes, Sam was taking pics of the scene and the B-Double while Latasha was being rescued. Our little contribution was to arrange [unintentionally] for a B-Double to be there, in the grounds. This left everyone in no doubt of the miracle of her survival.

It’s great to see her now, with little Hope having arrived, assisting Sam in his role pastoring the INC [Christian Outreach Centre] in St. George. Sam is still working on the farms, and Latasha uses her creative talents to present a children’s music ministry each Wednesday, among other roles. Last Tuesday was a ‘friendship day’, so the friendly people from their assembly had permission from IGA to set up their coffee machine outside their supermarket, give people a cup of coffee, and befriend them.

We also connected there with Shane Timmer, originally from Sunshine Coast but now building in St. George. He was building a new Sunday School room. Shane and Sarah care-took our house once, just after they returned from a round-Australia tour, and we were heading south.

Having already extended our stay from 2 to 4 days in St. George, it was really tempting to extend further. It’s a lovely town.