CRASH

The story I want to tell you isn’t fiction, but another manifestation of God’s amazing grace and love for people.

Paul bought a car two weeks earlier, brand new, from the “store”. In the beginning of the 80s, we didn’t yet know the buzzword “dealership”. A new car with an engine from the eleventh model, shined with fresh lettuce green paint, glass and nickel. The four-eyed “Zhiguli” delighted Paul’s senses and heart, while driving, and inhaling the new car smell. Drivers all know how pleasant this smell is, like incense for a priest. Grace, and nothing more. It’s a brand new car, what can I say?

Paul worked as a knitting machine adjuster in semi-private enterprises. The owners of such establishments were popularly called guild men. These workshops were small, 10-15 machines in different places. This is where the name “guild men” came from.

Paul’s task was simple and concrete: the machines were supposed to work like clockwork, and the owner wasn’t concerned about anything else. Thus, Paul’s working day was irregular. He could come in later, inspect the machines for defects, if necessary, adjust, lubricate, and replace needles, etc. and go to another workshop.

One morning, in no hurry, Paul got ready for work, fortunately, time allowed him to have breakfast with his family and pray with the Word of God for the coming day. It’s not work, but a fairy tale. He had plenty of time to get a lot done. The door slammed shut and he turned the ignition, Paul heard the gentle purr of the engine. Only new engines have such a sound.

Paul had already been driving for a long time. You could say since childhood, so he drove very well. He was the eldest son in a large family and the first of all brothers. He mastered the profession of a technician, and this work, at that time, provided serious income. The guild men treated their own well. Therefore, Paul had his first car as a teenager. From the age of 18, he was already flying around in his “Zhigulenok” along the Tashkent streets. At that time, he was still far from God and with his ride, he caused the cops’ blood to boil. They set up raids to catch him, but they never could in the narrow streets of Shumilovsky.

Looking in the rear view mirror, Paul saw the retreating figure of his wife (Sveta). Sveta waved and began to close the gate.
Paul and Sveta lived in the Shumilovsky town of Tashkent. Among the locals this town was simply called “Shumilovka”. These places were built, at least a hundred years ago, before the revolution and for this reason, the streets in Shumilovka, for the most part, were narrow and winding. Drivers always had to be careful of oncoming cars and especially when taking corners.

Their street was called Boysunskaya and was a rare exception because it led to the center of town. It only had two 90 degree turns, they were pretty close to each other. They were separated by only 60 – 70 yards so the driver had to keep an eye on both while maneuvering through them.
The first turn was about 300 yards from their house on Boysunskaya, and turned right and then the second was a left, immediately after which there was a bridge over a small river called “Kara-su”, which is translated from Uzbek as “Black Water”. After the bridge was a bus stop for bus route number Five, and then the road more or less widened leading to the city center.

Paul lived in this house his whole life and knew Shymilovka like the back of his hand. Thus, no turn in this area presented any difficulty for him.
Having passed the first turn, Paul, as usual, kept a little to the right, leaving space for any potential oncoming cars to safely pass.
Having entered the second corner, Paul suddenly saw an oncoming car, a white “Moskvich”, coming directly toward him, in the middle of the roadway. Neither road markings, nor sidewalks, have ever been in Shymilovka. (Probably never will be). On the right side of Paul was a clay brick embankment, and on the left side there was a picket fence, in front of which was a small ditch. Like all garden irrigation in Uzbekistan, it was dug right in the ground without any fencing.

Seeing the oncoming car, Paul stayed to the right as much as the road would allow, without touching the embankment. But the oncoming driver didn’t seem to realize that he still had a couple more seconds to veer to the right to avoid the collision. There was enough space for two cars to carefully pass each other at this turn, but the oncoming car just continued coming at him in a straight line, and a moment later, crashed into the passenger door of Paul’s “Zhiguli”, leaving a deep dent.

The cars stopped. Opening the window, Paul saw a man about 60 – 65 years old driving the “Moskvich”. The man was thin, with sunken unshaven cheeks, slightly ruffled gray hair, with a confused frozen look on his face, and on the steering wheel were two wiry strained hands of a man accustomed to manual labor.

– “Are you blind?” – Paul forcefully asked him. “Look at how much space you have on your right. What have you done? You’ve crashed both my car and yours.”

Several passers-by, who witnessed the accident, silently stood looking at what was happening. The driver of the white “Moskvich” was silent, but it was evident that the accident had thoroughly shaken him up. His whitened lips trembled a little, making his anxiety evident. He got out, without a word walked around the car then returned and got back behind the wheel and put the car in reverse, backed up, pulled off the road and turned off the engine. He looked disheveled. He was wearing some sort of slippers on his feet, washed trousers, which were suited only for working in a garden and a long sleeve gray checkered shirt.

Paul also came out of his “wounded” car, and examined the damaged door. It was clear that the door could not be repaired. A quick thought came to Paul’s mind: it’s a good thing that the glass, suspension and the interior weren’t damaged. Another positive aspect was that the collision fell right in the center of the door and the body has remained undamaged. In this case, the repair will be easier, since it will only be necessary to replace the door. Of course, it’s easy to say: simply replace the door. But now how to find it?
In the early 80-s, there were shortages of almost all spare parts and it wasn’t that they had to pay inflated prices: it was almost impossible to get the spare part!

It may be very difficult for citizens of the well-fed West to understand the deep meaning, and how much is invested in this simple Russian word “dostat” (or in English “to get”). At that time, almost everything related to cars was impossible to get in the store. Americans and Europeans will never experience the joy of being a driver that just simply manages “to get” a couple of new wheels, a camshaft or something else for their car (usually they wouldn’t even argue about the price). Therefore, if an accident or a serious breakdown occurred, it would be almost a family tragedy. From this day forward, the owner would begin “going through torment”. Everything that was needed for the repair, it was necessary “to get.”

Paul took a notebook, wrote down the license plate number, approached the driver, and asked for his driver’s license, name and address.
But then, something happened that astonished Paul and all those around him.

In a slightly hoarse and unnaturally trembling voice, the man began to speak, breaking into a scream.
-“Do you see where my car is?” – He asked Paul. “It’s you who is at fault, you’re the hooligan who hit me and pulled to the side of the road. And you’re still asking me for my driver’s license. Oh no! The police will come and they will decide who’s right and who’s wrong. You rascal”.
Paul was shocked. – “What!? Did I hit your car and drive to the side !? ” – Paul said sharply “How can you say that? Look, where is the broken glass from your headlight and turn signal? You just backed up and pulled over here.”

Two women, witnesses to the accident, began to shame the man. -“Don’t you have any conscience? You hit his car, and now you’re trying to get out this. Fear God and people, and be ashamed to say such things. You lived long enough to have gray hair, but you still don’t have any conscience, huh? Shameless man. How will you look into people’s eyes? ”

The man was silent, but it was evident that he was extremely agitated. He tried to say something else with trembling lips, and then he suddenly waved, started the engine and drove away, leaving a cloud of blue smoke.
– “Look at that heathen”, – the women were disgusted, shaking their heads.
Yes, the shock of what happened was rather daunting. Paul inspected the car again and again, wondering how much this repair would cost him, where to get parts and where to look for this disheveled man, imagining all the upcoming legal red tape associated with the accident, investigator, interrogations, protocols, court…

– “What a shame! Did this have to happen on top of everything? And how much time am I going to lose now that it happened? … I can imagine how Sveta will be upset when she sees this … Why did God allow such an accident to happen, and didn’t save me on this turn? If I had been driving here two or three seconds earlier or later, I would have had time to avoid the accident … But here you are, it happened right on the turn…What is it? Punishment or an accident? What for or for what did this happen to me!? I don’t know… But there is nothing I can do, we have what we have, we must live on …”

In the meantime, a policeman arrived, spoke briefly with witnesses, wrote down the man’s license plate number and told Paul to stop by the police station in the evening for documents.

The next day, Paul drove to the police station to drop off the documents. He wrote a statement, made a detailed description of the circumstances of the accident and gave it all to the investigator. After some time, the investigator called Paul and asked again about all the details of the crash, he said that he would transfer the case to the court.

Using the car’s license plate number, the investigator had already determined the identity of the driver and his address.
-“But before I transfer the case over to the judge,” the investigator said to Paul, “I need to interrogate the other person involved in the accident. Therefore, personally hand him this summons, so that he will be in my office tomorrow at 9 o’clock in the morning. He doesn’t live far from you. Ok? And we’ll let you know the trail date as soon as we complete all the documents.”

Paul, took the summons, said goodbye, and left the office. He looked at the address, and noticed that this man lived on a street parallel to his. The people called this street “Gypsy village”. About 25-30 years ago several gypsy families bought houses on this street. The Gypsies had left a long time ago, but the name of that street was entrenched in the peoples’ memories ever since.
Toward evening, having finished his work, Paul arrived at the indicated address. An elderly woman, apparently the man’s wife, came out.

-“Hello,” said Paul, “Is Petr Ivanovich at home? May I see him for a moment? ”
– “For what? What is this regarding?” the woman asked.
– “My name is Paul. I live nearby, on Boisynskaya St. We could say that we are neighbors. So it turns out that a few days ago, Petr Ivanovich hit my car. I brought him a summons from the police station, so that tomorrow at 9 o’clock in the morning he would come to talk with the investigator. I need to hand him the summons personally. ”
– “OK, then come on in,” -she said, opening the door wider, letting Paul enter the courtyard, covered by the dense shade of the vineyard.
“So this means it was your car he damaged.” she said… – “I see … we saw that he came home with a broken headlight, and one side of the car was dented. He was shaking from nerves. I have been asking “Petr, what happened?” -And he says: – “It’s no big deal, I broke the headlight and that’s it … So, that’s what happened.”
My name is Mariya Petrovna, Petr Ivanovich is my husband. Paul, don’t worry, we will definitely pay you for your car repair. But about the summons, I don’t know what to do… The fact is, Paul, that Petr Ivanovich is seriously ill. After this accident, he felt worse and he doesn’t leave the house. ”
– “And what happened to him?” asked Paul.
– “He has cancer, stage 4. The doctor says that he has only a little time left to live … And, now imagine, that day he felt a little bit better and he said to me: Masha, (short name of Maria) I want to go to the store. I’ll buy fresh bread there and I’ll come back home.”
“I really didn’t want to let him go.” – “Petr,” I said. “You’re still too weak. Where will you go? Don’t go. In the evening, the children will bring
bread. ”
– “But he didn’t listen to me.” He said “Masha, I’ll be back shortly, they bring hot fresh bread every morning, I’ll grab a couple of loaves for breakfast … and I’ll come right back. Masha, maybe this is the last time, that I will be able to drive a car…”
She said “Oh… and of course this had to happen. This all happened when he was already on his way back home…”

She wiped a teardrop from her eye with her handkerchief and continued her story. “When he arrived, there was no expression on his face. He went straight to his room, and he even left the bread in the car. Since then, he hasn’t left his room. I guess, this situation took away his last bit of strength. Paul, maybe it’s better not to disturb him, and we will settle this matter ourselves, in a neighborly manner, kindly … He doesn’t have much time left to live … He will no longer be able to go anywhere … he’s quite weak … ” she said in a trembling voice.

Shocked, Paul silently listened to this sad testimony, filled with the sorrow from an illness, that came into the house and that no one was expecting. Two close people lived side by side for several decades and that’s it, their last days together, and then eternal separation. It’s unbearable to see the suffering of a loved one and to realize that you’re powerless to help them in any way. How can we measure the depth of such torment?

Maria Petrovna wiped tears from the corners of her eyes with the edge of her handkerchief and sighed heavily, catching her breath. In Paul’s head, after the shock caused by Maria Petrovna’s story, everything gradually began to clear up.
Now it’s clear what this accident was about. I had to meet this man on the eve of his death. It’s not just an accident. This is clearly God’s plan. Mentally praying, Paul said:
-“Maria Petrovna, let me talk to Petr Ivanovich, just as a neighbor, not about the accident. I won’t even bring up the subject. I’ll say goodbye to him, maybe he’ll feel better after. Don’t worry about the accident, we will settle everything ourselves.”
Maria Petrovna shrugged. “Well, if that’s what you want, go ahead. Just don’t get angry. It’s hard for him now.”
“Maria Petrovna, I won’t blame or scold, nothing like that, I promise you,” Paul said.
Talking, they went into the house and Maria Petrovna gently knocked on the bedroom door.
-“Petr Ivanovich, a young man has come to see you. Please welcome our guest,” she said in a deliberately cheerful voice.

Paul went into the room and looked around. Petr Ivanovich was on a single bed, covered with a light blue terry bedcover. Next to him was a window with a view of the back yard. Several large pillows kept him in a semi-sitting position, so that he could see part of his garden, greenery, and trees. On the table beside the bed was a can of fruit juice, a couple of cups, several boxes of pills, some bottles, and in the air, a familiar pharmacy smell of medicines.

-“Well, have a talk for now, I’ll make some tea for you guys,” said Maria Petrovna and left the room.
-“Hello, Petr Ivanovich,” said Paul. “Do you recognize me? It turns out, that we are almost neighbors. Our backyards are very close to each other. But I live on Boysunskaya, and you are here, on “gypsy village”. So, our backyards are almost connected. We have lived here for many years, but never got a chance to know each other …”
-“Ah … you found me,” said Petr Ivanovich in a hollow voice and silently began to look forward, at the opposite wall.
-“Petr Ivanovich,” continued Paul. “I went to see the investigator this morning and he told me to give you a summons.”
Paul took it out of his pocket and before Petr Ivanovich had time to say something, Paul tore it up, into four pieces.
-“Petr Ivanovich, let’s forget this accident. You don’t owe me anything and don’t worry about it anymore. Alright? I’ll settle it myself. You don’t need to go to the investigator either. Tomorrow I will go to the police office, I’ll take my letter back and I’ll say that we both have agreed on a neighborly basis and that no court will be needed. So don’t worry… Everything will be fine.
– Maria Petrovna told me a little about how all this happened and a little about your illness. I just wanted to ask you today: Petr Ivanovich, do you know what your illness is?”

He nodded with difficulty. – “I know, my friend, I know …”
Paul went on. “Peter Ivanovich, are you ready to meet God?”
After hearing these words, Petr Ivanovich’s face started slowly to change and suddenly he burst into tears.
– “I’m afraid,” he said through his tears,“More than anything I’m afraid of … I’m thinking about it all the time. What will happen to me, what to do? No peace in my soul … Oh, how afraid I am, there are no words to say …”

Paul was a little taken aback by such a reaction to his question, but with his heart he already felt that God had honored him to become a participant in the salvation of another soul. God’s amazing plan, Paul’s heart rejoiced and he thanked God for this accident, thanks to which God arranged this meeting with this man, literally on the eve of his transition to eternity.

Then Paul, verse after verse, began to explain to Petr Ivanovich God’s plan for the salvation of sinners, of the Calvary sacrifice of Christ, of repentance, of forgiveness, of the great love of God to the perishing world and of His grace to all people. He said that no one can earn salvation and eternal life, but God gives us all this as a gift, by His great love and grace, that in Jesus Christ, God reconciled the world to Him …

This long evening ended with a prayer. God’s peace filled Petr Ivanovich’s heart with unearthly joy, which shone on his face and better than any words testified of his salvation. It was no longer fear, but joy that filled him at the thought of an imminent meeting with God and they thanked God for this accident, thanks to which the light of grace and salvation came to the family of Petr Ivanovich.

The next day, Paul stopped by the police station, he told the investigator about the situation, withdrew his statement and asked to close the case by signing that he had no complaints against Petr Ivanovich. A week later, Petr Ivanovich moved to the eternal abode of heaven. Went in peace and joyful expectation of a meeting with his Heavenly Father.

And Paul thanked God that He honored him to be a participant in this wonderful event, in which the truth of Scripture was so vividly manifested: – take precious from the insignificant.

How important it is for Christians in all circumstances not to lose their presence of spirit, endure everything in patience, everything happening to us and to believe that all things for good to those who love God, who are called according to His purpose.