Hi Folks,
You have all heard the "good news/bad news" thing, right?
The good news is that no one was hurt when we rolled the Suburban up onto its topside along the road from Puerto Cabezas to Managua on Monday night. We devoutly thank God for this huge blessing. I don't have to tell you the bad news. (The Suburban crashed).
It was raining, I was driving, and the curve was much sharper than it at first appeared. There were seven of us onboard. We were traveling with some friends of ours, Rusty and Dawn Zimmerman, their two children Peyton and Keegan, and a young friend of theirs named Richard (a local).
We broke traction at about mid-curve, and began to skid vigorously. Our rear tires were swinging forward as I fought for control with the steering wheel. Just as I regained control, our right rear tire popped into a roadside culvert, and our right front tire followed briskly. The culvert caused us to topple over, onto our roof.
It was more than a little bit disorienting to be upside-down in the middle of the night, with several people on top of me. Our first concern of course was for injuries. There were a few scrapes, bruises and cuts from glass, but nothing that was bleeding very much. THANK GOD for that. It could have been a whole lot different. We all made our way out of the vehicle through various new openings.
Rusty says that this was the "smoothest roll-over he has ever been in", out of the three or four which he HAS been in...poor guy!
The damage is extensive on the poor old Suburban.
We were able to catch a passing bus that had a cable, which we used to put the Suburban right side up again. The ignition was bound up somehow, so we weren't immediately able to see if the car would start. The roof was mashed in like an old hat, creased from the top middle of the windshield to about four feet back, and dented in and down for about two feet. It was smashed, and well smashed. The four windows on the doors were all gone as well as the windshield. The two front doors will not open, and are bent and twisted. The two rears doors, with coaxing and pulling, we managed to open.
We caught a ride to a place where we could get a cell phone signal and called in the cavalry, by calling up the national overseer of the Church of God in Nicaragua, Bishop Antonio Martinez. Bishop Martinez was a two-hour drive away, but was able to make it out to the scene of the accident and take Dawn, Carolyn, and the children back to Managua. Rusty and I stayed with the vehicle to protect it.
Rusty and I managed to get about an hours sleep in the rain, before people began to walk by on their way to work. I found my pair of pliers and managed to get the ignition on the Suburban to turn enough to come on-line. I wasn't able to turn it enough to get the starter to engage, and the batteries were dead at this point anyways, so we flagged down several passing vehicles, requesting a jump...or as they say here, "necisito energia". After about the fourth vehicle we managed to get the Suburban to start up, by using a wire which was attached directly to the starter, and touching it to the battery. It ran!
But BOY, did it ever smoke at first. I guess some oil had made its way onto the tops of the pistons because it had been upside-down. It smoked, and smoked and smoked for about 15 minutes, and then as we continued down the road, it began to quit smoking and running somewhat normally. I managed to drive it all the way from 29 Km North of Boaco, to the south side of Managua to the national overseer's office on the carretera masaya. About a two-hour drive. I was only pulled over by a policeman once...and he was nice enough to let me go, once he believed that I didn't have any money on me.
So now you know how we spent Monday night, and Tuesday morning.
Since the motor on our Toyota blew up a couple of weeks ago, we are currently back to walking and riding our little "moto".
We think the Suburban is repairable, but we are praying for the funds with which to have the work done. We should have the Toyota parts repaired and back from the United States in about two weeks, and we are praying that the Suburban will be repaired by the end of November.
God Bless you guys.
Richard and Carolyn Becton
Dios le bendiga grandemente a su familia y ministerio.
Casa de Servicio, International
Missionary Aviation, Medical Evacuation
Church of God, World Missions Project #: 065-0497
http://www.casadeservicio.org Richard & Carolyn Becton
3005 Pine Dr NE
Cleveland, TN 37312
210 392-9574 (for dialing from the US, and for messages)
011 505 613-5824 (Our number in Nicaragua)
ADDRESS IN NICA:
Iglesia de Dios, Central
Missionero Richard Becton
Barrio: 19 de Julio
Puerto Cabezas, R.A.A.N.
Nicaragua, Central America
