Story Time | After preaching the Gospel to him for two hours, he still mugged me!

So let's take a break from the serious stuff and laugh a little.

Apparently I'm too trusting of strangers and people in general. Some may even call me naive.😅

Due to this "innocence" of mine, I've been "swindled" and mugged more times than I can recall. Those stories will make for a good laugh one day, but the particular incident I was reflecting on today was one that took place in 2012.

It was a Sunday morning and I was walking in town, about to take a taxi to church. I was attending church on Westville campus (UKZN) at the time. About 10 steps away from my taxi I get stopped by a young man with tattoos all over his arms; I can't recall what he said to stop me, but we started chatting. He told me that he just came out of prison and that he wants to turn his life around but he's struggling to find a job etc.

Now, being a young Christian who was on fire for the Lord, I immediately thought, "this can't be a coincidence, this is God sending this guy my way so I can share the Gospel with him and invite him to church". So I indulged him and proceeded to encourage him about what God could do to change his life if he gave himself to the Lord. He instantly agreed to come to church with me (hallelujah!), but he first had to make one quick stop to "see his mother around the corner", then we could go. Eager me, I agreed to walk with him to his mother.😂 Needless to say, it wasn't around the corner.

We walked and walked and walked...I even had to take off my high-heeled shoes and walk barefoot. Let me give you some context, the conversation started in town by one of the taxi ranks on Soldiers Way behind Virgin Active. We walked towards Inanda Rank and continued up the road towards Musgrave...(I know what you're thinking, don't judge me, I really believe in people!)😅

As we walked, I excitedly told him about how God had changed my life and the incredible things he was still going to experience for himself, and he also shared a lot about his personal life and family. We really had a great conversation...till I got tired of walking and asked him ukuthi kanti siyaphi (where the hell are we going?). He just kept saying we're almost there. We continued up the highway, past Essenwood Road, and walked through a very quiet and dodgy area when we were approaching Brickfield Road (close to the church at Jesus Dome). Now at that point I started to get annoyed with this "long walk to freedom" and told him I had a good mind to turn around if we didn't get there soon.

Once again he said we're getting close, and he proceeded to ask for money to buy a cold-drink at a nearby shop. I said hell no, I'm not giving him any money but I'll gladly buy him his drink. He got very angry and pulled out a knife and threatened to hurt me if I didn't give him the money...hehehe. I simply looked at him fearlessly and said "khohlwa" (forget it) and kept walking. Did he not put away his knife and follow me? (Now only after the whole incident was over did the gravity of that moment actually hit me - things could have gone horribly wrong, but at the time I had felt no fear whatsoever).

Two hours later, we approached the KWIKSPAR by Sparkport Pharmacy in Overport. Yazi, I shouldn't blame people who call me naive...lol

At this point, I was beyond annoyed and told my companion that I was about to take a taxi to church right there and then, with or without him (and by that time, church was almost over phela). He proceeded to ask if we could go into Spar to buy him food and then we could take the next taxi to campus. I agreed - wrong move!... All along, he was carrying my box which had some books that we were selling at church, and some petty cash. He now also offered to carry my handbag while I stood in the queue to pay for his food. I gave it to him freely. He suddenly "saw a friend" of his outside and he went to say hi. After I finished paying for the food, I stepped outside to find that my companion had disappeared, with the church box and my handbag. Ja neh...

Luckily I had some change on me, but my phone was unfortunately in my gone bag. By the time I had taken a taxi and arrived at church, the service was over!😂 Not my proudest moment, but I chose to believe that the seed that was planted in his life that day would one day grow and bear fruit. I just couldn't believe that after preaching the Gospel to him for two hours, he still mugged me (hand on face).