YOU WILL CRUSH FIERCE LIONS AND SERPENTS UNDER YOUR FEET! Psalm 91:13

Nathalie and Werner Steurbaut, a couple from our church, are living in Uganda since 2008. They run a home for children where now 115 children found a safe place to grow up!

On 26th October they went to have a bite to eat in a restaurant at Victoria lake in Entebbe. As they got back in the car, Nathalie opened her window before driving off. At that moment a snake fell into the car.

Nathalie had Werner get out of the car, she also left the car on the passenger’s side. In Uganda all restaurants have armed security personnel. The guard of the restaurant where Werner and Nathalie had a meal, noticed something was wrong and ran up to them. With his rifle, Nathalie picked the snake out of the car and beat it to death with the butt of the rifle. Then she took a picture of the snake. Nathalie is not afraid of snakes, growing up she was regularly exposed to them!

Then Nathalie and Werner were on their way home. They had barely left when Nathalie realized something was wrong: her muscles stiffened, her lips were foaming and breathing became difficult. At once she realized the snake had bitten her… and she hadn’t even felt it!

Nathalie turned the car and drove straight to the hospital nearby. As they arrived Werner had to go fetch someone inside… Nathalie couldn’t walk anymore and breathing became increasingly hard. In her arm you could see two little holes of the snake’s fangs. She showed the picture, it was a green mamba, an extremely venomous snake. Antivenom was urgently needed, but it was not in stock at the hospital.

Meanwhile Maxim, their son who was ‘by chance’ in a café near the restaurant, heard of the snake bite and came to the hospital. Nathalie couldn’t speak anymore, breathed with great difficulty and felt weaker and weaker. She was on oxygen, couldn’t move anymore but she heard everything. She had to stay calm, but how to do that when everybody around you is panicking not knowing what to do…
Maxim continued talking to his mother, constantly repeating: you are not going to die, Mama, you will not die! At the same time he was thinking aloud where else they deal with snakes and he thought of the zoo. Maxim knows a lady there and called her. She was in a theatre and normally her mobile would be switched off but she was waiting for a friend who would come also. She promised Maxim to inform the zoo and tell them Maxim was on his way to collect the antivenom. He jumped