https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/muchgrace\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n(Isa 65:24) \"And it shall be that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nI was sorting through some stuff and came across this beautiful story that my good friend Akin sent me many years ago. It was apparently written by a doctor who works in Africa. (I know it's long, but trust me, it's well worth the read.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\"One night, I had worked hard to help a mother in the labour ward, but despite all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWe would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator) and no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nOne student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She returned shortly in distress to tell me that when filling the bottle, it burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). \u2018And it is our last hot water bottle!\u2019 she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilt 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\u2018All right,\u2019 I said, \u2018put 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.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nDuring prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. \u2018Please, God\u2019 she prayed, \u2018Send us a hot water bottle today. It\u2019ll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhile I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, \u2018And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she\u2019ll know You really love her?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs often with children\u2019s prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say \u2018Amen\u2019? 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 \u2026 aren\u2019t there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAnyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nHalfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses\u2019 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 verandah was a large 22-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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nFrom 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 \u2013 that would make a batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the\u2026..could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nI 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, \u2018If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nRummaging 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: \u2018Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she\u2019ll know that Jesus really loves her?\u2019 Of course, I replied!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThat 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\u2019s 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 \u2013 five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it \u2018that afternoon.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAre your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. Christ-conquerors are safe from Devil-death.\u201d (Rev 2:11) ![\"\u2764\ufe0f\"](\"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/images\/emoji.php\/v9\/ted\/2\/16\/2764.png\")
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t \t\tView More\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\n\n\nHeavenly Father, giver of life and health: Comfort and relieve those who are sick amongst us\u2014such as Barbara with colon cancer and Ian fighting cancer. Please also pray for a quick and full healing for Jay after a total knee operation. Pray for peace and the correct pain relief for them all so they may enjoy Your rest. And give your power of healing to those who minister to their needs so that they may be strengthened in their weakness and have confidence in your loving care. We pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ![\"\ud83d\ude4f\"](\"https:\/\/static.xx.fbcdn.net\/images\/emoji.php\/v9\/t1f\/2\/16\/1f64f.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/muchgrace\/ (Isa 65:24) “And it shall be that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear.\u201d I was sorting through some stuff and came across this beautiful story that my good friend Akin sent me many years ago. It was apparently written by a doctor who works in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,41,36,42,31,56,49,40,58,29,51,54,30,32,12,11,50,28,45,43,48,38,53,47,14,55,59,16,57,27,35,46,44,60,10,33,1,3,52],"tags":[],"fbg_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Footer.png",595,383,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Footer-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Footer-300x193.png",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Footer.png",595,383,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Footer.png",595,383,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Footer.png",595,383,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Footer.png",595,383,false]},"fbg_excerpt":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/muchgrace\/ (Isa 65:24) \"And it shall be that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear.\u201d I was sorting through some stuff and came across this beautiful story that my good friend Akin sent me many years ago. It was apparently written by a doctor who works in...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3675"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3675"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3677,"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3675\/revisions\/3677"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.muchgracepublications.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}