The Hitch-Hikers

I don’t usually pick up hitch-hikers, but last Wednesday (June 27) at the Flying J south of Vero Beach, FL, I was drawn first to the 2 guitars: “Can you play those things?” They had a sign saying they wanted a ride “north-ish” or to Tampa. “I’m going to Tampa…” - an immediate look of joy and relief. I took a quick shower. When I came out, Rama and Ashleigh came with me to Tampa. They are nice girls in their 20’s, planning to go to Africa to start a ‘sustainable orphanage’ but via Atlanta or maybe Canada, where Rama is from, to arrange her passport. Ashleigh already has hers. They say they want to stay in South Africa or Kenya indefinitely. Once they are there on a tourist visa, they want to get sponsorship to stay. Ashleigh has already been to Africa and has contacts. These two are good musicians. They sing beautifully together in harmony - original stuff and also ‘bluegrass’ - their own concept of it. They sang for me in the truck, but it was a little hard to hear over the engine noise. The girls both have shaved heads. Ashleigh wore camouflage. She is sweet, tall and slender. She grew up in a Pentecostal church in Tampa but seems to have had a bad experience with it. It was good at first but grew huge and became too restrictive, full of rules. She and her mom left. Ashleigh said she had prayed today to meet a trucker that would change her image of truckers. I was the answer to her prayer. Rama’s name is actually Barbara Marie, so Rama is from the end of her first name and the beginning of her middle name. She is very fat. Her mom practices Mormonism, and her dad does not. She has a sister in high school who is a very good cellist back home in Vancouver, B.C. A & R are into spiritualism and said they ‘respect’ Jesus. (Later, I was able to give a strong testimony of who Jesus is.) In Tampa their friend Natalia came to meet us and brought Rama’s dog. By the time we got to Tampa, I had mentioned I was going to Atlanta next, which was good for them because there is a Canadian embassy there.

If Peggy had been on the truck with me this week, none of this could’ve happened. But I believe it was a divine appointment. First, on Wed. morning I was delayed a couple hours with truck problems. The transmission would not shift beyond 5th gear. I called our mobile mechanic Mike, who is based around Orlando. We’ve used him a few times. He is very good. He said he’d come out to me in a couple hours, so I wanted to get the truck off the side of the road. I nursed it 9 miles to the next exit at 17 mph. By then I had tried everything according to Mike’s suggestion. I had crawled under the truck twice in search of disconnected wires. As soon as I arrived at the exit ramp and was about to park, the problem evaporated. The truck shifted to 6th and all the way to 10th! So I kept on rolling to Miami and so far have had no recurrence of the problem. I called Mike to say I was rolling and would try to meet him on the way back up… This delay had put me in the right time frame to help the girls. Such evil events are in the news every day, that I am concerned about these two traveling this way all over the USA. Please pray for them - for their safety and that they will soon come to know Jesus personally.

At the truck stop in Tampa, after I had picked up my trailer, we ate and then ‘jammed’ in the restaurant. Natalia is the best guitar player of the three. She is a journeyman carpenter and a recent college grad - English major. She is Peurto Rican American, totally bilingual. We jammed only a short time. Then we headed for Atlanta, now with the dog. She’s a sweet, quiet dog and looks like a small wolf. Rama is looking for a good home for her. I had to say no thanks. The girls are planning to go to Arkansas for a Rainbow Gathering, which is going on now and lasts for many weeks. On the 400 mile trip to Atlanta, they slept like logs on the lower bunk air mattress. They had not slept in a couple days. These young women remind me of my step-kids, rejecting organized religion for a more free, love-oriented, pot-accessible, commune-style, some-form-of-spiritual, feminist life style. Please help me pray for Ashleigh, Rama and our kids and grandkids. I believe this is the reason God put them in my path. They need our prayers and miracles.