Arriving in Livingstone ... almost

About 20 minutes outside the city of Livingstone, we heard the driver say oh… we did not take that as a good sign as we coasted to the side of the road. We ran out of fuel. What comes next can only happen in Africa. 25 muzungas pushed the bus that was being steered by a national. WE HAVE PICTURES. I called Dennis and told him if he wanted to see the sight, he should come out to us as he will never believe our story. We pushed the bus up a slight hill and encouraged the ladies to jump in for the ride down. Many of us just enjoyed walking, refusing to get back in the bus. It is now 4:30 and we should have long been at our destination. The bus and its passengers began rolling down the hill that turned out to be over a mile long. When we reached the bottom, we could see what seemed to be a truck stop just ahead. To the left was a cement plant and the driver was within the gates trying to negotiate fuel for our crippled chariot. With nothing better to do, we began pushing the bus up the hill. When we got to what we thought was the truck stop, we found it to be a check point. The military police saw us coming and let us push by, maybe because it really was not a motorized vehicle at that moment. As we passed the checkpoint, I noticed a tractor trailer parked along the side with a container of diesel attached to the side. Two guys were looking in the trunk of a taxi parked behind the truck as we walked up. I asked if one was the driver, without looking from deep in the trunk of the taxi, one of the men responded. We asked about purchasing the fuel and noticed they were going through someone’s suitcase and pocketbook. I could see us getting into a situation that I really didn’t want to be involved when in drove our rescue. Dennis and Bobby pulled in and allowed us to walk away without incident. Unable to get a container, Dennis and Bobby drove off after a good laugh. Having nothing to do, we started pushing the bus again. We have all determined that in total we pushed the bus 3 miles up and down the countryside before receiving fuel.
One of the problems when running out of fuel we were told is priming the pump. All the junk from the bottom of the tank including water was sucked into the engine. We were later told a story by Pastor Grace of his adventure in the States taking 1½ hours to restart the engine. While we were pouring the fuel in from the container Dennis and Bobby were finally able to bring, God did another miracle. Up drove the ice cream cart. A man on a bicycle with the ice cream chest on the front saw an opportunity. We saw it as a gift from God. He had just enough for everyone to get their choice and he took American dollars as payment $1 each. That doesn’t just happen! I have never seen the good humor cart in Africa nor will the nationals accept dollars. With the bus fueled, the guys began to prime the pump. 2 tries and 15 minutes and nothing. We began to load the pickup to shuttle everyone to the hotel and the bus started… another miracle!
We loaded the vehicles and headed to Livingstone. Almost into the city, we passed the bicycle that once passed us so we knew we were making up time. We arrived at the hotel at 6:30pm. About 10½ hours after leaving Lusaka … but what a story! God allowed obstacles then provided miracles, one after another.