Meeting a joyful witness

It was Sunday afternoon. I was coming back to Manzini (Swaziland) from Hluthi when I got a puncture just before Nhlangano. I thanked God it did not happen the evening before on my way to Hluthi as I arrived when it was already dark.

When I was finishing changing the tyre, a smiling man arrived. I do not remember if I greeted him or he greeted me but he immediately said: “Ngiphuma esontweni” (I am coming from church). Not sure which one. He certainly was not a Catholic nor did he now I was a Bishop of the Catholic Church.

From that moment he started sharing in Zulu and SiSwati his praises to the Lord and I was adding mine. He said: “The Lord is good, the Lord is faithful, the Lord loves us... He sent his only Son... He does not want us to suffer (one of my favourites and I enjoyed listening that from him), He protects us day or night (I immediately thought God would have protected me even if the puncture was the evening before...) He knows everything. He sees everything, even those who want to harm us..."

He did not sound as if he was “preaching”. He was not trying to convince me that his church is better than mine. He sounded more like someone who gives witness to God's love out of joy.

I must say I enjoyed the moment. He never asked me who I was. He was never surprised that though I am white I could somehow communicate in Zulu nor was he distant because of our different races. It was a spontaneous sharing. We never spoke about anything else. That was all. I asked him his name and promised to pray for him. Remembering the Ethiopian baptised by Phillip (Acts 8:39) I think we both continued our way with a smile in our faces.