“Daddy, daddy, come have a look,” my 15-year-old son came screaming across the sitting room.

Overtaken by a feeling of fright, I asked, “what is it?”

“The windscreen has been stolen,” he panted.

“What!” I bit. I rushed on impulse towards our VW LT bus, and discovered to my chagrin that the front windscreen was gone! “Oh my God,” I whispered.

Why me, why our bus, why at this time of the month? These thoughts raced through my mind in a flurry.

We’ve been parking this vehicle in our house since it was bought 3 years ago. Besides, other neighbours who own cars also park their cars on the compound. Although our houses are not fenced we all believed in some sort of security, even though not very obvious and lived without entertaining any fear of being burgled.

But, they came this early Tuesday morning in June. It was in the middle of the month, it was obvious there wasn’t enough money at home to cater for anything extra like replacing a stolen windscreen. And this transport business supplemented the income at home. I felt perplexed and to some extent confused. My suspicion suddenly settled on some elements in the area as I felt that thieves from afar couldn’t have had the courage to steal from an open house, but could it be true?

My wife realizing the dismay written on my sober face approached me gracefully and said, “relax my dear, for God is in control,” and she encouraged, “let us give thanks to God as all things work together for good to them that love the Lord.” This words from my wife gave me some comfort, however, the question of raising money to replace the windscreen nagged me.

As I sat reflecting, my driver and his mate came around, ready to go for the day’s business. Slump! Their countenance changed to one of gloom on hearing the news.

And as if putting salt on a wound, I told them I didn’t have money for a new windscreen immediately, as one was going to cost about GH¢30 and that even excluded fixing.

At this point, we could only give way to despair or trust God for a miracle. A miracle? Yes. An idea came to me, our mechanic; he could be of some help.

We trudged down to him to see if there could be a way out. Hoping we could get some credit facility from or through him. But alas! That was not to be, he seemed to be in a tight corner as well.

To our disappointment, he poured out his own collection of sad stories to us.

He told us of how three windscreens were stolen from his workshop and he had to replace them all for his customers. Oh what a misfortune! I felt. He however told me that he could get us one immediately if we were ready with the money. And in the same breath he asked for GH¢20 advance so he could persuade the windscreen dealer on our behalf.

I nearly gave up hope, but remembered, “With God all things are possible.” So I said to him with all the courage I could muster, “please give me one week and I will be back.” As I turned to go away, he chipped in “let’s trust God for a miracle.”

“Master,” one of his apprentices called, “if you have GH¢14, you could get a secondhand one at Kokompe."

After they had left, I went to town to see to some few other things. The time was about 4:30pm since I returned home, and they weren’t yet back from Kokompe.

Sitting quietly in my sitting room, I took my Bible and flipped the pages at random trying to find some solace. As I read, my eyes fell on this portion of scripture, which says, “Cast your cares upon him, for he cares for you.”

I adjusted myself in the seat, gave a deep sigh of relief and resolved to leave it all in the hands of God.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of a vehicle engine running, the sound was familiar, so I lifted my head and peeped through the window. There it was my VW LT bus in my compound. A feeling of joy engulfed me instantly. It was a feeling I couldn’t describe. Overwhelmed, I began sweating profusely and I felt numb all over my body. Then, something brought me back. It was a trickle of tear drops down my cheeks.

Surprised, I asked, “how did you get it done?” Uncertainty clearly written on my face.

The driver sat down and began his story.

“Sir", he said, “God is really wonderful.”

This beginning statement heightened my anxiety and I stared at him expectantly.

He continued, “We went to Kokompe as you instructed, to look for a windscreen and then come back with the hope that you might have had some money from town but something strange happened.”

What might have happened! But why wouldn’t he tell me exactly how he got the windscreen fixed and stop this entire story. I wandered.

He went ahead, “master, I say God is really wonderful oh.” He repeated what was now beginning to look like his jargon.

“A young man,” he said, “came around as soon as he saw us. He beckoned us to come by saying that he had the exact kind of windscreen we wanted.” He sighed. “We followed him hopefully. And thank God your brother happened to be around.” He added.

I almost lost my patience as he narrated his long winding story. But I had no choice but to listen to him.

“So what happened?” I queried.

“Sir, when he brought the windscreen, lo and behold, the mate discovered the vehicle number on it, sir, how he did that instantly, I can’t tell.”

“Oh praise God”! I almost heard myself shouting.

He continued, “The man wanted to argue with us, but the bus was right there so we compared the numbers and they were the same, so he had nothing to say than to plead with us.” He said my brother insisted that the man should fix the windscreen if he doesn’t want trouble. Shivering, he quickly agreed for a compromise, that he should not be reported to the Police which we agreed to.

“I will bear all the expenses involved,” he promised. And he did.

My own stolen windscreen had been found!

The following morning, a neighbour came to share in our joy. She sung and praised God saying, “indeed, you serve the true God. This is a miracle.”

Later when news spread around the area about the incident, only few people believed that we found our stolen windscreen at no less a place than Kokompe.


By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi
Email: edogbevi@hotmail.com