To all TIGians:
God is indeed awesome, whoelse knows everything and does each thing at the exact moment.

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 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. 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 the 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 by way
of a corollary, "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 would be for a
package to arrive 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 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, Mummy, 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 Please share this
amazing story with as many others as you can. Our God really IS . . . AN
AWESOME GOD!!!!!!


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

Let's continue praying for one another.

Father, I ask you to bless my friends and enemies. I am asking You to
minister to their spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give
them Your peace and mercy.

Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence in Your
ability to work through them.

Where there is tiredness, or exhaustion, I ask You to give them
understanding, guidance, and strength as they learn submission to Your
leading.

Where there is spiritual stagnation, I ask You to renew them by
revealing Your nearness, and by drawing them into greater intimacy with
You.

Where there is fear, reveal Your love, and release to them Your
courage.

Where there is a sin blocking them, reveal It!, and break its hold over
my friend's life.

Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise up leaders
and friends to support and encourage them. Give each of them discernment
to recognize the evil forces around them, and reveal to them the power
they have in You to defeat it.

I ask You to do these things in Jesus' name.