Greater Portland Baptist Church

Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: Short Version: Ambulance, Taxi, Moving Truck

Because this is such a long story, I decided to do two versions of it. Feel free to read the longer one if you'd like , but I wrote it more for ourselves as a memory and for our family who may be interested in the added details. This is the abbreviated "journal version." [The extended version is available on the Shanks Blog @ lightoftogo.com]

Friday early afternoon: I get a phone call. It's a missionary friend asking for our help for their coworkers who've just had a car accident 3-4 hours North of us.

Two hours later: Tiffany and I take two vehicles up to the accident site. We meet Glen (who was driving) and his wife, Karen. Rick is the owner of the truck. He was in the backseat with no seatbelt, so he's in the hospital with some possible broken ribs. Broken ribs and busted truck, poor guy. Glen and Karen are fine, but their stuff isn't. They were moving from Togo to Mali, so all their personal belongings went through the wreck too. We load all their things into the two trucks and head to the Dapaong hospital.

Five hours later: It's been decided that Rick's in too much pain to go anywhere by vehicle. I coordinate with Randy Alderman to have him fly up the following morning to get Rick and Karen and bring them to Lomé. Rick has a great attitude about the whole thing - amazing.

One hour later: Tiffany and I are settling into our hotel room after deciding it's way too late to attempt the drive back home to Kara.

45 minutes later: Tiffany and I have just finished a successful preemptive strike against the flock of terrorist mosquitoes living in our hotel room. We go to bed not realizing they have called for reinforcements.

30 minutes later: I have become the target of the mosquitoes' counter attack. I decide these must be some kind of specially-trained covert ops mosquitoes, since they've somehow figured out how to bite me through the sheet! I get up and exterminate another 20 or so of their forces when I realize that this could go on all night.

10 minutes later (now 1:30 in the morning): Changing rooms. Check...double check...ok, clear. No evil, winged phantoms of death in this one.

2 hours later: "Why am I awake? Why do I feel like I haven't slept at all even though I'm exhausted? Why am I itching...again?" The hunt begins...again. Found out that one mosquito can ruin your sleep just like 500 can. Thankfully he was fat and slow due to sucking half the blood out of my body, which inevitably ended up smeared on the wall and my palm.

5 minutes later: Aaaah, sleep!

90 minutes later: Randy calls letting me know the weather is good and he's clear to fly.

Around 8 o'clock: We discover the hospital's sole ambulance is broken down. I'm the new ambulance. Rick laid in the back seat as I drove slowly, like 2 mph slowly, down the 15km bumpy road to the airstrip.

5 minutes later: Bump. Rick, "ouch!"

3 minutes later: Bump. Rick, "Are we there yet?" Me, "Sorry, it's gonna be a while."

50 feet later: Bump. Rick, "Can anybody see the plane yet?" Poor guy. He asked "are we there yet" more times than a 7 year old kid on a road trip to Disney World. I don't blame him, the back seat of a pickup truck is the last place I'd want to be with broken ribs!

Around 9:30: Saying a prayer for Rick, Karen, and Randy as they take off headed to Lomé.

30 minutes later: Picked up some sandwiches at our hotel's restaurant for our trip back to Kara. More on the sandwiches later.

Two hours later: Took Glen to the gendarmerie (local government office) so he can sort out the formalities of the accident.

Three hours later: Home at last! Glen is sorting through all his things in our living room, picking out what's damaged or broken.

27 hours later: I'm feeling unusually tired, my back aches, and I feel chilled. Guess what? It's malaria time!

Two days later: Malaria's gone. Wasn't nearly as bad as the first two times I had it. But remember the sandwiches? Tiffany and I think the chicken was bad. For three days she couldn't wander more than a stone's throw from a bathroom, and I'm still fighting it.

Summary: Thankful. Thankful we could help people in need. Thankful to see God work even in bad circumstances. Thankful for the new friends.

Oh, and as for the truck, it was rolled twice and looked to me like it was only good for scraps. The mechanics, however, managed to do a couple temporary fixes, drive it all the way to Kara (2 hours), and they say they'll have it looking and running like new. I'm beginning to believe the missionary myth that Landcruisers are indestructible.

[Excerpted from the Shank's Blog @ lightoftogo.com]

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: June 2010 Update

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: April 2010 Update

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: March Update

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: February Update

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: Safari & Christmas

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: Back from Accra

I just wanted to write a quick update letting you know that we arrived safely home in Kara from picking up my parents in Accra. It was quite a two day journey back here, and it was tiring for my parents, but they did a great job toughing it out on the smooth Togo roads. They are already having a great time experiencing all the sights, sounds, and smells of...continue

Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: Trip to Accra, part 2

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: Headed to Accra

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: March 2009

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: February 2009

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Jesse and Tiffany Shanks: January 2009

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