The Lord of the Rims...

One day last week, we woke up to a flat tire in our driveway. My first thought was, “Great. What are we going to do?” My second thought was, “Call Susanna.” I wouldn’t be surprised if that child changed her phone number on us! But, she was as gracious as always and said she would be right over and we could go get it fixed. I asked her if we needed to go buy a new tire, dreading yet another unexpected expense, and she said that we could probably just get it patched and it would be fine. So Jim got a lesson on finding all the necessary equipment Toyota hides in its 4-Runners for tire changing. Once he had the bald spare put on, we set out to go to the tire repair place.

On the way, Susanna told us that it was a very reputable place and had always done a good job of patching her tires for her. Living in Managua and traveling all the places she does, necessitates a new set of tires every year and frequent patch jobs. I guess having driven our car for a couple of weeks that it was time for us to have a flat. We were just thankful it occurred while parked in front of our house instead of on one of the really busy thoroughfares we travel every day.

We pulled in to the tire repair shop and I have to admit, I was a little hesitant. This sure didn’t look anything like the tire center at Wal-Mart. There were three young men there who were working hard on repairing the tire of an impatient taxi driver. He wouldn’t have shared my thought that it was a good thing he was sidelined as that meant there was one less maniacal driver on the streets of Managua. His thought, I’m sure, was that each minute that passed, as he was sitting in his now 3-tire, obviously well-abused taxi, was a minute that he might be missing out on his next fare…which meant less cordobas in his pocket at the end of the day…always equating to less food on the table.

Thanks, once again, to Susanna’s translating, when the young men were through with the taxi driver – who roared off like a Nascar racer spying the finish line, they got the tire out of the back of the car to take it to their “shop”. One of the young men noticed how badly our spare looked and felt that it was necessary to take it off and check it as well. We told him it was fine but his professional eye outranked our protest. He came over to our car and proceeded to jack it up with their hand jack…while the three of us were in it! We asked Susanna if we shouldn’t get out and she told us we were fine staying in the car and that we needed to stay in the shade.

Thus began the process of getting the tire fixed: first of all, after getting the tire out of our car, they aired it up, put it in a tub of water to find the leak (actually two of them) which they marked with a yellow crayon-type marker; then The Three Amigos had to hang on the end of the “tire-popper” thing to break the bead to get the tire off the rim; next, they used an old flat hand iron to seal the patch on the holes – it actually reminded me of my Grandma’s old iron; they put the tire back on the rim, aired it up and gave it another dip in the tub of water (I have to confess here that I thought they were just cleaning our tire and I commented on what good service that was…Jim and Susanna laughingly corrected my Pollyanna view of tire repair) and miraculously, the patches held. Our spare didn’t fare as well. When they checked it, they also found a hole in it. As they were taking it off the rim, it began to tear and literally fell apart. We were definitely going to be buying a tire that day.

About 45 minutes after pulling in, it came time to pay our bill…remember, they patched one tire with two patches, took one tire off the car and tried to patch it (plus thoughtfully washed the two tires…) and the whole bill came to 150 cords…or about $7.90. They did offer to sell us a used tire for about $85 but Susanna thought we would be better off going to Price Smart…like a Sam’s Club…and getting a new tire, not knowing where the used tire might have come from. They assured us it was a good tire as the letters were painted white…we graciously declined. So, we joined the ranks of the maniacal taxi drivers and headed off to Price Smart…after thanking the young men for their work and their willingness to let the gringos take pictures…like we had never seen a tire repair place before!

Price Smart wanted $120 for a new tire. Susanna remembered another place we could go check so we headed off to the south end of Managua. The quest for a more reasonably priced tire was going to lead us right in to a spiritual battle.

We found the tire place and it looked very professional with much more modern equipment. The owner had two tires in stock that would work for us and after some dickering on Susanna’s part, we agreed on a price. He offered us seats at his desk while we were waiting to have the tire mounted and balanced…it didn’t need to be washed as it was a new tire. :0) He then proceeded to ask a jillion questions both to Susanna and us…once again with her translating.

Things seemed to be going fine until he asked why Jim and I were here in Managua. When we told him God brought us, that’s when it all started. He began telling Susanna that he was a spiritual man himself and that he had achieved a higher level of spirituality through his studies. He had basically created his own religion which is a mixture of Catholicism, new age and elitism…and he was pastoring a church. Jim and I both realized early on that he was not on target with his beliefs and as he would challenge Susanna repeatedly, we sat and prayed quietly, asking God to give Susanna wisdom, boldness and protection and that she would stand firm in the face of this man’s attack…he was becoming louder and louder and although Susanna wouldn’t argue with him, she would not back down from God’s Truth. This almost made the man angry but Susanna would just smile and quietly respond when given the opportunity.

The man became so engrossed in his tirade that he totally neglected the other customers who were coming in. We continued to pray, realizing that he wasn’t just misguided, he was speaking against Jesus. What was so alarming to me is that every time Susanna had the opportunity to share scripture or something God’s Word said, her voice would almost be drowned out by the loud noises coming from the equipment the workers were using…it was actually quite disturbing but it made me realize even more that this wasn’t a difference of opinion, this was the enemy at work.

When our tire work was done and we were able to leave, the man accompanied us out to our car and told us we were welcome to come do business there any time. We thanked him and left. Susanna was exhausted and very apologetic that she had recommended that place. We all felt a little shaky and Susanna feared her words fell on deaf ears. In trying to comfort and encourage her, we reminded her that God’s Word does not return void and that we may never know how God would use that encounter with that man.

Now what I want to say about all this is just the day before, Susanna, Jim and I had a conversation about evangelizing. We were telling her about our Good News program at church. She said that she is uncomfortable doing that and that she prefers to let the way she lives her life be her spoken word. We told her we understood but that we knew we had to be bold about our faith, even when we might feel uncomfortable in doing so. She agreed and the conversation ended.

God’s timing is perfect. We didn’t just happen in to that tire place…God led us there through the circumstances which had occurred earlier in the day. He knew Susanna needed to know she could defend her faith when put in a position where she would feel it was necessary and that she could do it well. He knew we needed to know by personal experience that there are all kinds of antichrists and that we need to be diligent, fervent and constant in our prayers for wisdom and protection from the evil one…both for ourselves and those we love. And we all needed to be reminded that God is in control of all things… including the harvesting of souls, the return of His Word and the timing of flat tires.