Miracles with dolls and hot water bottles

This is a story written by a doctor who worked in Africa . 
It was sent to me by a friend.

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 hot water bottle today. 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 the 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 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. 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?'

'Of course,' I replied!

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)
Thank you for reading this. If you would like to copy this and email it to a friend, or print it off for whatever reason, please feel free to do so.
Also a COMMENT would be very much appreciated !!!!!!!
Sara