“Angel at the petrol station” – a missionary moment

We were new missionaries in Mali when, in an attempt to stop Boko Haram, the Malian government blocked all bank accounts from Nigeria. We were totally without cash, and with no way to get any. One afternoon I received an unexpected call saying that someone had arrived by airplane and had a message for me in the city from his boss, a military man. The message was an envelope of American dollars!

I was so happy to rush back home and celebrate how God had provided for us, that I jumped on my motorbike without noticing the fuel gauge. Halfway home, the bike stopped and I was stranded. It was evening and there was no place to change some dollars, so I walked the bike to the only fuel station and tried to communicate with the attendants about my need. They did not speak English, and I did not yet speak their language, and we were at a standstill.

Then, a young man sitting near the pumps beckoned me over, and in a language which was not English but I could understand clearly, asked me what I needed and whether 500 francs would be enough to get me home. I agreed that it was, and he ordered an attendant to fill my bike. I asked his name, and carefully wrote “Kazim” in my diary so that I could come back and repay him.

Two days later, I was headed back to the city with my children, and we stopped at the fuel station to pay Kazim. The manager, who spoke English, informed me that not only was there no Kazim associated with the station, but never had been. He had been with the station since it opened, and became angry as I insisted that there was a Kazim. Eventually, I acceded and turned to my children, saying “I know who Kazim was.” God had sent an angel to get me home safely, and from that time on He never failed to provide for us during our time ministering in Mali.
-Nigerian missionary to Mali