Yesterday, we went on an adventure taking food, clothing, and blankets to Oaxaca. The plan was to leave at 3:15 am and be back home by around 8 pm. I left the house at 3:15 am. I picked up two men from our church, and we headed to Cuernavaca, a city 2 hours from us, to pick up the supplies. We arrived at 5:30 am and loaded the van. We then had to wait for the other truck to arrive to load up and we left at 7 am.
The trip, normally about 6 hours, took about 7 1/2 because we were so loaded down, and we had to pick up a pastor in another city on the way. When we arrived at one toll booth, protestors had taken it over. They blocked the road, and whoever wanted to pass had to pay $50 pesos(about $2.70). So, we paid the money and continued our journey.
When we arrived, they couldn’t find the keys to open the gate, so we waited as we didn’t want to unload on the street. They never found the key, so we ended up unloading on the street anyway. They then took us out to lunch before our return trip.
We had hoped to start our return trip sooner, but we didn’t get to leave until 5 pm. Once we got close to the highway that leads out of the city, the traffic was completely stopped. We got separated from the other vehicle, and they were completely trapped. More protesters had closed the highway entrance so that nobody could get by. So, we tried a few different routes to no avail. None of us had ever been in the city before, so we asked a bunch of people, and no one could help us as it’s the only road out. Finally, we decided to open our Waze app, and find an alternate route, and that’s what we did. Unfortunately for us, Waze didn’t mention that these were dirt roads that in the U.S. wouldn’t even be considered roads. There were times we didn’t know if the van would make it as the holes or dropoffs were so deep. We stopped a few times to examine the terrain before we continued. We went through 2 creeks and had to wait for cows to move out of the way as well. Finally, after 2 hours at 7 pm, we made it through and were able to get on the highway.
We contacted the other people. They had waited over an hour just sitting there when the protesters left and opened up the highway. So, even though they were the ones sitting there, they still got on the highway 30-45 minutes before we did. God is good, and he kept us safe. We made it home a little after 12:30 am.
Next week, the church in Oaxaca will get those supplies to those in need in the mountains which is another 12 hours from there.