A Nurse’s Incredible Journey of Faith

On this trip, we were accompanied by a guide, who ironically was our former host. For some reason, he felt it necessary to entertain us up by telling Indian stories. He mentioned that the Indians would show their acceptance of us by doing weird things to us. I was getting pretty scared as I hung onto his every word, believing what he was saying. By the time he got around to telling us he was joking, I felt that this trip was the biggest mistake of our lives. His attempts at comedy were in poor taste and I was not laughing. Within a few minutes of the scary-stories experience, we pulled up to the front of our new home. Nothing had been done to the property since we last saw it. Looking back, I think we were very naïve in not confirming with our host that the necessities had been provided. Our friend left shortly after helping us to unload our belongings. It was now getting dark and we had to find a suitable spot to put up the bed. It was late and we were too tired to clean. We would begin that chore in the morning. I then went to the kitchen to prepare food for the baby only to discover that the yellowish water was still coming from the faucets. There were no close neighbours or telephone to ask for help. I decided to boil the water and use it just for the night, but when I turned the knob on the stove nothing happened. When I checked the back part of it, I found out that the wires had been disconnected. The stove could not work. It was a nightmare. Carol was hungry and we were without clean water or heat to prepare the formula. However, there was no time to engage in self-pity or to wonder how professed Christians would even think of treating others in such an inhumane manner. I had to get food for the baby. I filled a small saucepan with that yellowish water, made a fire with matches and paper and tried to heat the water. This plan failed. As the paper burned it blew into the water. In frustration, I just cried. I then decided I must find help at all cost and I stepped out in the dark. When Clifford saw my determination, he told me to stay with the baby while he went to seek help. This promise gave me little hope as I tried to comfort the hungry child and waited nervously for his return. Within about half an hour, which seemed like hours, he returned with an electric hot plate and some clean water. Once Carol was fed, my nerves partially quieted as we prepared for bed. As soon as we were ready to retire the lights went out. It was so dark that finding our way to the bed was another adventure. We had had no time to check out the location of fuses. All we could do was pray as we sat there, quietly wondering what we should do.