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Verse:Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. —Psalm 117:1, 2, NIV
It was about 4:00 in the morning when a sharp pain awakened me. I could easily understand what was going on: our baby was coming! I called my husband and told him. He was quite surprised but soon called everybody to share the news. My sister was with me at that time and, with the wife of the nurse, helped me get ready.
We were living among the Karajá Indians, teaching at our church’s mission school on Bananal Island on the Araguaia River, Brazil, Central Region. Our main problem was that the nearest hospital in São Félix do Araguaia was four hours by bass boat upriver—if the boat had a fifteen-horsepower motor. Our mission had only a twelve-horsepower boat, and with that less powerful motor, it would take the whole day to get to the hospital!
However, there was a nearby Karajá Indian who had a fifteen-horsepower bass boat, but when asked about going to São Félix, he answered that he would go there in two days. Nobody could convince him that this was an emergency and that we could not wait that long.
So people decided to use the twelve-horsepower motorboat to cross the river and call for the help of Brother Luis. He was a church member who lived on a farm on the other side of the river. His two children were studying at the school, too, and he had a fifteen-horsepower motorboat. A Christian Indian would go there to call him. As the man was crossing the river, the engine suddenly stopped. The boat often refused to function, and people would be obliged to row. My heart fainted. Brother Luis’s boat was our only chance! Then suddenly, things started working again. Brother Luis came, and I was able to start my travel to the hospital at 8:00. We got there at noon. Our baby was born at night. Later, we were told that the Indian man had prayed when the boat motor stopped; it had started working again. God had answered his prayer. That was amazing!
Our mission station existed to teach the people about the true God. They had learned how to pray and applied that knowledge when helping us. Our mission had been fulfilled!
Het Jane Silva Carvalho