As I drive down the highway, I think back over the events of the past few days.

On Sabbath, I carried my family up into the hills for an afternoon picnic. After driving for about half an hour, they finally chose a pleasant spot in the shade of a large tree. They spread their picnic blanket and began enjoying a meal of potato salad and Big Frank sandwiches while I amused myself by counting the passing motorbikes. “One, two, three, four . . .” The fourth moto slowed down, turned around, and drove back. The driver was staring at me—he recognized me! He greeted my family, and I heard him explain that he recognized me because my previous missionary owner, Josh Hooker, had often driven me to a place where he taught English near this man’s house. He also talked about how I had taken Josh to the hospital with several patients, sometimes starting out as early as three in the morning. Hearing him say such nice things about me gave me a warm feeling in my radiator.

Just a couple of days ago, I took Adam to visit his friend Navee. When we got to his house, we learned that Navee was out in his fields harvesting rice. While we were parked along the road waiting for Navee to come back, several people recognized me and asked Adam to come to their home and help their sick friends and family members. While Adam visited them in their home, a crowd of about 20 people gathered. It turned out that three sick people were hoping to go to the hospital in Phnom Penh. Seeing me, they remembered how Josh had used me to help in the past. Adam told them I would be taking him and his family to Phnom Penh on Wednesday, and they would be welcome to come along.

Also, I was recently able to help a family in a very sad situation. Pue Mean (the man who helped Adam fix our well) brought a village grandfather who needed our help. His daughter and son-in-law were in a pediatric hospital in Phnom Penh with their sick baby. The doctors had told them their baby was going to die and there was nothing more to be done, so the parents decided to bring the baby home. They tried to get a taxi, but the driver wouldn’t let them ride. He was afraid the baby would die in his taxi, and his vehicle would become haunted. So Adam and I made a special trip into Phnom Penh to pick up the family. Sadly, by the time we got there the baby had died. We brought the heartbroken parents and their baby home. It was their first child. I hope they see Jesus in the care Adam gave them. They were very appreciative of the service of love.

My mind returns to the present as I yawn, realizing we left the house this morning at 4:40 a.m. Now we are traveling over a smooth section of road on our way to Phnom Penh.

Whoa! What’s that? A water buffalo is charging straight across the road in front of me! I feel a jolt, and hooves fly up in the air. Amazingly, I am unscathed. The bull bar on my bumper absorbed most of the impact. The water buffalo gets up off the road and keeps walking as if nothing happened. We continued on toward Phnom Penh.

Sometimes I feel like I don’t have much to contribute to the mission here, but the other day I heard Adam and Ruby talking about me, and they called me the “Legacy of Love!” Adam was saying that people recognize me as a symbol of love, care, and responsibility to the community. He said that I provide my missionaries with the ability to reach the people in ways that would not be possible otherwise, and he was so thankful for those who contributed to help purchase me. That really warms my radiator!

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