25. “There is a god”

I saw the most disturbing picture; Branislav leaning over a man lying in the snow on the side of the road and crying, ”I killed a man. I killed a man.” As I came closer I noticed that the man was breathing heavily and he was in shock. “Don’t you see he is alive, don’t scare the man. Take off your jacket and cover him.” I had to order Branislav for I thought he was in shock too.

I quickly had to organise myself. I moved from Branislav and the injured man, called the police and ambulance, and stopped the first passing car. They took Miriam and Natasha inside the car to keep them warm, and in meantime the police and ambulance arrived.

The two police officers directed the paramedics to the injured man, checked Branislav, the girls and me. They moved to our car and when they saw it stuck in the bushes upside down with the smashed glass and us completely intact, one of them said: “There is a God. He protected all of you. On this very road last year 35 people were killed, mostly families.”

We contacted Branislav’s parents. Their friends immediately organised their own friends to put the girls and me up for the night so that Branislav could arrange for the car to be taken back home to the village. We were all shattered by the event and simply couldn’t believe what had happened to us.

It was hard to settle down to sleep that night. When I touched Natasha’s hair I realised that it was full of small pieces of glass, so was Miriam’s and mine. Until late we talked about what had happened and the girls kept on saying, “Imagine mum we could’ve all been killed and the pedestrian too. Before we left, dad came to us and asked us to forgive him for he nearly killed us all. ” Those were hard thoughts to process and the question why did it all have to happen didn’t give me any peace.

Three days later we went back to Zrenjanin to visit the injured pedestrian in the town hospital. We were relieved to find out that he only had a minor knee injury. We also went to see the place where the accident happened. We couldn’t stop thanking the Lord for stopping the car where He did. Only couple of meters further there was a canal with water and if we had landed there it would have been deadly. The car was left in Vojvodina to be repaired and our family flew to Germany grateful that all of us were fine.

26. At the baptismal pool

On our arrival home, an exciting event was ahead of us - a baptism on 19 January. “Why don’t you invite your parents to come? This might be very important for your mum.” Branislav encouraged me to call mum and dad. “I can’t do that. I don’t think mum is fit to travel. If anything would happen to her my sister and brother would keep me responsible.” was my definite answer.

It was Thursday morning, the phone rang. “Good morning. Dad and I are locking up our place. One of you will have to meet us at Stuttgart bus station tomorrow morning.” We couldn’t believe mum’s words; all of us were thrilled with the news.

On Saturday afternoon our family with happy grandparents were among the first ones to arrive to the hired church where the baptism was to take place. As we entered the church I remembered mum’s dream, a white church. The church was decorated in white with white-cream marble tiles. We walked up to the very front to find our places. Everyone was happy to see mum and dad. As mum talked to some friends, dad and I were in a deep conversation about the baptism.

“I could never get baptised. I’m not a man who can keep his word. You know how hard and how many times I tried to bring and keep my life in order. I always slid back. Every time I was so disappointed with myself. Imagine I promise God to live a Christian life and disappoint Him.” I could see dad was struggling with hard thoughts. My father was an alcoholic and a smoker. I knew all about his struggles, how hard he tried and failed to keep himself free from addictions. It made me cry to see desire yet weakness; conflict going on in the soul of my father.

“Dad there is a secret of Christian living. All of us are just like you, even with the best intentions we fail. However, God has promised us the power of the Holy Spirit. It is God who changes and gives us power to live worthy to be called His followers. It is by His power that we live not by ours.” Dad listened carefully as I spoke and kept silent. Our gaze was focused on the baptismal pool filling with water.

Branislav was preparing the baptismal candidates for this special ordinance. I knew how much it meant to my parents and I remembered how much it meant to me when I got baptised. It’s a matter of life and death that goes beyond our limited lives on this planet. It is belonging to the everlasting kingdom. Baptism gives you the right to be a citizen of that Kingdom of God.