After a computer workshop given for several translators and coordinators in Asuncion, Paraguay, one of them, from England, approached me with a big concern. He was working in the North of Argentina. He had to cross the border between Paraguay and Argentina and take a bus to his home several hundred kilometers away.

We had brought him a brand new expensive Toshiba 1100 donated by his church in UK. He was concerned about passing customs in Argentina with it. Computers were usually confiscated! We prayed about it and I felt the need to go with him to the border.

Since he was carrying bags with supplies for his family, especially clothes for his children, also sent by his church, we hired a taxi cab to go to the border next morning. In that area, Paraguay and Argentina are separated by a bridge. When we arrived at the customs area the taxi driver said casually, “I cannot go across the bridge with this car because I don’t have legal papers for it. So I will help you to walk and carry some bags.”

By that time it was common in Paraguay to buy cars that had been stolen in Brazil and to sell them at a very affordable price in Asuncion. I suspected this was the case with the taxi.

I took a bag in my right arm, hung another in my left shoulder, and put the “portable” computer on top of my head, like I saw other women do who were carrying packages across the bridge. But I had to hold it, whereas the other women did not.

So, the laptop was there in plain sight for everybody to see as we crossed the bridge under the vigilant eyes of the guards, both in Paraguay and Argentina.

When we started crossing the bridge, we had to show our papers at the Paraguay side. My British friend went through fast, but when I showed my passport, the guard was surprised at how well I could speak Spanish, since I had a U.S. passport.

I explained that I had been born in Chile, and I had been brought to the Lord in the United States, and that I was an American citizen. He was even more surprised and let me go.

At the other side of the bridge my worried companion placed his British passport under the frowning eyebrows of the Argentinean guard. When finally the guard signaled him to go on, he went to the window where he had to present forms to declare what he was bringing into the country.

Meanwhile, the Argentinean guard was also surprised by my Spanish and my US passport. Again I gave him the whole account. His reaction was totally unexpected. Very excitedly, the guard said: “Yo soy su “hermano en Cristo” (I’m your brother in Christ!) and praising the Lord let me in Argentina!

When I arrived to the customs area, I went straight to the window, next to my confused friend, to fill out the forms. I put the laptop at my feet. Since I was not going to stay in Argentina, they just placed a stamp in my passport and told me to present it when going back to Paraguay. Nobody put any attention to the taxi driver that crossed the bridge with us to help with the packages. I guess he was a regular.

After my friend presented the forms, he was told to wait. We sat at a table with the taxi driver who had left his car on the Paraguay side. We put all the bags down around us.

While the missionary and I prayed, we saw the guard who had stopped me at the Argentinean side, go to the window to talk to the officer. Both the officer and the guard came to our table.

The guard said, “You can go now and the ’hermana‘ may also go with you to the bus.” The missionary was very nervous. He asked, signaling the bags at our feet, “Do I have to show you all what am bringing including the laptop?” The taxi driver and I looked at each other, obviously thinking that the missionary had turned mad giving away the information about the precious laptop.

But the officer looked around and said, “If you have something to declare here it must be transparent.” The laptop that traveled the bridge on top of my head was now sitting right there next to our feet in plain view.

My friend kept praising the Lord all the way to the bus station. The taxi driver could not believe it. “Transparente” (transparent) he kept saying in amazement.

Psalm 25:21 says: “May integrity and uprightness protect me because my hope is in you.”