Pretty Amazing Stuff

[FC]

"Before they call, I will answer". Please read on.

 

This story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa

 

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward;

but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny

premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have

difficulty keeping the baby alive as we had no incubator (we had no

electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding

facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly

with treacherous drafts.

 

One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and

the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to

stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly

in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber

perishes easily in tropical climates). "And it is our last hot water

bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over

spilled milk so in Central Africa it might be considered no good

crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no

drugstores down forest pathways.

 

"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you

safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free

from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."

 

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers

with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I

gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told

them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby

warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could

so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old

sister, crying because her mother had died.

 

During prayer time, one ten-year old girl, Ruth, prayed with the

usual blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please, God" she

prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as

the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon." While I

gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while

You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so

she'll know You really love her?"

 

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could

I honestly say, "Amen"? I just did not believe that God could do

this.

 

Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything, the Bible says so. But

there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this

particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from homeland. I

had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never,

ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel,

who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

 

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training

school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door.

 

By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the

veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking

my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage

children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each

knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly.

Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were

focused on the large cardboard box.

 

From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys.

Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted

bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored.

Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of

buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the ...

could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out - yes, a brand-new,

rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it;

I had not truly believed that He could.

 

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward,

crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly

too!" Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the

small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never

doubted! Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and

give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves

her?"

 

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed

up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed

God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And

one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months

before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring

it "that afternoon."

 

"Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24). This awesome

prayer takes less than a minute. When you receive this, say the

prayer, that's all you have to do. No strings attached. Just send

it on to whomever you want - but do send it on. Prayer is one of the

best free gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards.