A Bad Situation

Today we had the perfect foreign country nightmare. We took a taxi to church in the morning and just as I was opening the door to get out, a passing car hit the door that I had just opened. Before I know it the taxi driver was yelling and screaming and the driver of the other car was out yelling to. I was unhurt and the taxi didn't suffer "to much" damage. But the other cars mirror was broken off and had a large scrape along the side. The driver was very unhappy. I felt sick and didn't know what to do. Everyone seemed to think it was my fault and I should pay up since everyone knows that you get out of the taxi on the side away from traffic. Thankfully we were near the church so Becky walked there and told others what had happened. Soon there were a group of 4-5 friends beside me as my advocates. So we called the Taxi companies insurance company and they sent someone out. That took a while, however, and the tension seemed to be building. So I started to ramp up my prayers. Things seemed to settle down and when the insurance guy finally got there he said the insurance would not take responsibility. I was watching things from a distance(at the advice of my friends) however and only heard things second hand. Then the owner of the second vehicle came over and started demanding that I pay up. He said the Insurance guy estimated the damage at 7000 Baht (~$200), which is a lot here. It seemed a little strange that he was telling me this so I didn't do anything. Later I found out that the Insurance guy didn't estimate any thing. In the end we had to go to the police station and sort it all out. The insurance company did end up paying and so I was off the hook, all though I did give the Taxi driver some money for his wasted morning.

I was very grateful for how my brothers from church surrounded me. I found out later that the whole church spent a good amount of time in prayer for us and that I was the illustration for the sermon. So, the perfect nightmare turned into a great experience in the body of Christ and a good opportunity to learn what to do if an accident like this ever happens again. Praise God.