The wounded leopard lunged for Kanfori's throat, taking them both to the ground.
Kanfori grabbed its forelegs and wrapped his legs around the beast's hindquarters, struggling to hold it back.
His friend stood by with a gun. He aimed and re-aimed and aimed again. His trembling hand and the moving struggle did not allow a clear shot. Time was running out for Kanfori.
Weakened, the animal was still more than a match for the young man. The sharp teeth slashed closer and closer as Kanfori screamed at his terrified friend to shoot -- shoot -- shoot …
With the sharp crack of the gun came stunning, hot pain in Kanfori's shin. His grip slipped for only a moment. That was all the beast needed.
The leopard lunged again, and before Kanfori could even finish thinking he was going to die, it launched away and melted into the tall grass.
Spent in every way, heart slamming against his ribs, breath coming in painful gulps, mind uncomprehending, Kanfori lay in the dust.
Decades later, Kanfori cannot figure out how he survived that day. He cannot understand how he has become the oldest man in his village, outliving all his peers. In a country where the average lifespan for men and women is 50, Kanfori is believed to be more than 80 -- in spite of a yet-unhealed gunshot wound to his shin.
Perhaps how is unknowable.
But at least one part of why may be answered soon: Kanfori has just begun hearing God's Word in his own language. This week he will hear about the fall of man, a key passage in the 60-lesson evangelistic Bible study.
He is learning with the same intensity he brought to hunting leopards, although somewhat tempered by age. Pray that he will wrestle with the difficult decision to place his faith in Christ, and live to tell the story that leads to eternal life.
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