Mohembo travelled a lot.
He travelled before he was born, and he was on the road within a week of his birth. And he moved a lot too. By the time he was 7, he had lived in 6 places, in three countries and two continents. Most of his travel was by car, on roads that we often nothing more than tracks and in remote wilderness. He was well acquainted with mechanical breakdowns, flat tires, broken fan belts, "over-cooked" radiators, dirty gasoline, and even one occurrence of the engine "falling out!". He has been stopped by flooded roads, washed out bridges, landslides on mountain tracks, fallen trees, deep mud, military road blocks, and at times herds of elephants. There was also travel by motor cycle, dugout canoe, airplanes (from 4-seaters to jumbo jets), ocean liners, and traditional south Pacific outriggers, to say nothing of trains and buses.
Through all of this coming and going, Mohembo remembers one recurring habit. Whenever the family started a trip, they began with prayer, either alone or with the people they had stayed with. And in those prayers there was always a request for "travelling mercies." As a child Mohembo had only a dim understanding of what this meant. Mostly it seemed to him to be a prayer to God to protect them from an accident or a serious crash.
During his young years, Mohembo attended a boarding school. It took 3 long days of travel by road/track to get there, and 18 weeks later to get back home. These trips were tremendous adventures, because no one ever knew in advance what would happen. The route was through dense tropical forest, open savanna like plains, marshlands and wide rivers. One of the parents' challenges was how to keep the children occupied during the long and monotonous, always slow, hours. One trick was to get them singing - "singing through the alphabet"- or just never-ending nonsense songs. Another playing "geography" - each person in turn naming a country that began with the last letter of the previous named country. A break in the middle of the day and in middle of the forest for some packed sandwiches and a banana was a relief, but only until the incredible swarms of flies and gnats attacked. With time, it became apparent that, for both parents and children, "travelling mercies" covered more than mechanical or road-related problems, but included even frayed nerves and tempers.
As an adult Mohembo was required to do a lot of field work in remote areas, often in wildlife areas. He has had elephants in his camping site, a black bear joining him for breakfast, lions prowling 20 m. from his tentless sleeping spot, poisonous snakes in his resthouse bedroom, and more. Through it all, God has kept him safe and out of harm's way.
As he looks back now over close to 70 years of world-wide travelling, he realises just how gracious God has been in answering those prayers for travelling mercies. Whether it has been difficulties with immigration and customs personnel demanding bribes or simply wanting to show their power, narrowly avoiding a fatal crash in a small Cessna in the high mountains of Papua New Guinea, slowly losing the outrigger of a traditional Manus canoe in a storm out to sea, or avoiding a truck purposely wanting to drive his motorbike off the road in Nigeria, Mohembo looks back on a record of remarkably accident-free travel.
In the more metaphorical sense of all of life being a journey, the same is true. Mohembo is conscious of and very grateful for "travelling mercies." Of many kinds - God's mercy in showing him so much of this wonderful world, of the amazing diversity of cultures built around essentially similar people, opening his eyes to the variety of forms of praise and worship, the multitude of ways in which God's people can demonstrate love and support, his protection during serious illness, and so much more.
Sirach 34:9-11 says
But the Scriptures Mohembo thinks most of is Psalm 91:9-13
God's faithfulness is new every morning, and his travelling mercies without end.
He travelled before he was born, and he was on the road within a week of his birth. And he moved a lot too. By the time he was 7, he had lived in 6 places, in three countries and two continents. Most of his travel was by car, on roads that we often nothing more than tracks and in remote wilderness. He was well acquainted with mechanical breakdowns, flat tires, broken fan belts, "over-cooked" radiators, dirty gasoline, and even one occurrence of the engine "falling out!". He has been stopped by flooded roads, washed out bridges, landslides on mountain tracks, fallen trees, deep mud, military road blocks, and at times herds of elephants. There was also travel by motor cycle, dugout canoe, airplanes (from 4-seaters to jumbo jets), ocean liners, and traditional south Pacific outriggers, to say nothing of trains and buses.
Through all of this coming and going, Mohembo remembers one recurring habit. Whenever the family started a trip, they began with prayer, either alone or with the people they had stayed with. And in those prayers there was always a request for "travelling mercies." As a child Mohembo had only a dim understanding of what this meant. Mostly it seemed to him to be a prayer to God to protect them from an accident or a serious crash.
During his young years, Mohembo attended a boarding school. It took 3 long days of travel by road/track to get there, and 18 weeks later to get back home. These trips were tremendous adventures, because no one ever knew in advance what would happen. The route was through dense tropical forest, open savanna like plains, marshlands and wide rivers. One of the parents' challenges was how to keep the children occupied during the long and monotonous, always slow, hours. One trick was to get them singing - "singing through the alphabet"- or just never-ending nonsense songs. Another playing "geography" - each person in turn naming a country that began with the last letter of the previous named country. A break in the middle of the day and in middle of the forest for some packed sandwiches and a banana was a relief, but only until the incredible swarms of flies and gnats attacked. With time, it became apparent that, for both parents and children, "travelling mercies" covered more than mechanical or road-related problems, but included even frayed nerves and tempers.
As an adult Mohembo was required to do a lot of field work in remote areas, often in wildlife areas. He has had elephants in his camping site, a black bear joining him for breakfast, lions prowling 20 m. from his tentless sleeping spot, poisonous snakes in his resthouse bedroom, and more. Through it all, God has kept him safe and out of harm's way.
As he looks back now over close to 70 years of world-wide travelling, he realises just how gracious God has been in answering those prayers for travelling mercies. Whether it has been difficulties with immigration and customs personnel demanding bribes or simply wanting to show their power, narrowly avoiding a fatal crash in a small Cessna in the high mountains of Papua New Guinea, slowly losing the outrigger of a traditional Manus canoe in a storm out to sea, or avoiding a truck purposely wanting to drive his motorbike off the road in Nigeria, Mohembo looks back on a record of remarkably accident-free travel.
In the more metaphorical sense of all of life being a journey, the same is true. Mohembo is conscious of and very grateful for "travelling mercies." Of many kinds - God's mercy in showing him so much of this wonderful world, of the amazing diversity of cultures built around essentially similar people, opening his eyes to the variety of forms of praise and worship, the multitude of ways in which God's people can demonstrate love and support, his protection during serious illness, and so much more.
Sirach 34:9-11 says
A travelled man knows many things,
and one with much experience will speak with understanding.
He that is inexperienced knows few things,
but he that has traveled acquires much cleverness.
I have seen many things in my travels,
and I understand more than I can express.
and one with much experience will speak with understanding.
He that is inexperienced knows few things,
but he that has traveled acquires much cleverness.
I have seen many things in my travels,
and I understand more than I can express.
But the Scriptures Mohembo thinks most of is Psalm 91:9-13
Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your habitation,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
For he will give his angels charge of you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
the Most High your habitation,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
For he will give his angels charge of you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.
God's faithfulness is new every morning, and his travelling mercies without end.
