Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Luke 12:7 NIV
The story of last week’s Morning Manna is continued here:
On Friday afternoon, Francisco suddenly stood at my door with his two children. "What's happened, how come you are back here?" I blurted out in my surprise. "Where is Marie-Carmen?" Little by little I got to hear the whole story:
The long drive on the bad roads had given Marie-Carmen a real shake and when they arrived in Bambari she didn't feel well. The next day contractions set in and she miscarried. She was taken care of in the local hospital but they lacked practically everything, They had no water, no light, only kerosene lamps. A curettage would have to be done. The doctor found two persons who were prepared to give blood transfusions if necessary, but he said that if complications should develop she would be lost out there in the bush. She would have to be taken to Bangui as quickly as possible. But it would take too long by car.
Francisco decided to go to the Baptist Mission. The Southern Baptists had mission stations all over the country. They had their daily radio contacts from 10 to 11 a.m. Now it was half past eleven. When they finish their communications they turn the radio off until 5 PM when they again talk to each other. The Baptists had a small airplane somewhere but it could only fly during daylight. That would mean that it could only come the next day. Francisco was praying desperately while he drove to the Baptist mission station. And when he arrived, the ladies were still talking with the other missionary ladies by radio! They immediately contacted the mission station where the plane was based. The pilot had gone to the marketplace but they promised to go and look for him. He would come and fetch Marie-Carmen. The pilot's wife was a nurse and she would accompany him so she could help nurse the patient, Francisco felt such a burden fall off his shoulders. It had worked. God had taken care that the ladies spent just a bit more time swapping recipes on that day.
After they arrived in Bangui, Marie-Carmen was taken to a private clinic where she could be cared for. Francisco brought me their children and returned to the hospital. But I was worried about what l should do if Marie-Carmen would have to be repatriated. My husband was on a bush trip and I would not even have been able to get them tickets for the airplane, not to think of all the papers that they would have to present to be allowed to leave the country. I had to get my husband back home as soon as possible. Telegrams would arrive about two weeks later if ever. There was no telephone where he was. And then I remembered that we had our radio program "Voix de l'Esperance" every Sabbath morning on the national broadcasting service and that the local pastor would be sure to tune in to hear it. And so I asked our African mission departmental leader to go to the radio station on that Friday night and to ask them to pass a message on to my husband before the program was sent. That did work and my husband left right after the sermon to return home.
The operation was successful and Marie-Carmen did not have to return to Europe. But the doctor said that had she arrived 12 hours later it would probably have been too late. It took some time for her to recover completely but we were so thankful that God had helped even in this situation. And I was relieved when my husband came back home on Monday and I was able to turn over to him the responsibility for everything. God had helped me cope up to that point.
God says, "Be not afraid, for I am with you". In extreme situations, it is often the only possibility we have to trust God and turn over our fear and worries to him. But we often try to shoulder our fears by ourselves. Most of the time we are not in a situation where we have no other choice. Our daily worries—oh yes, we can cope with them on our own - so we forget that God has promised to be with us every day and to bless us. He cares for the little things in my life as well as for the big problems. I don't have to confine God to the "big things" of my life. Sure, he has helped me in difficult situations and I have learned from them. I can also learn from small experiences. There is a give and take—anyone who has learned to trust God in small things will be able to trust Him in big things—and the other way around. Thus, every experience we have with God, be it a matter of life and death or an everyday matter, is just as valuable, because we experience God.