In the Palm of God's Hand

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands... Isaiah 49:16

Today I saw Pam.  It was sad to see her spindly legs and swollen belly much like a stamp endorsing her life in Moz. Over a year ago we had rejoiced that God had blessed this childless couple who had suffered many miscarriages. When they had asked me to pray, I was almost speechless in wonder as to how one prays for a couple with AIDS. Yet, together we prayed for God's will to be done, not ours.  The next year, they were holding a beautiful baby daughter named Pam.  God had spoken.  And He has spoken again.  They are expecting their second child.  As I watched Pam in her mother's arms today I couldn't help wonder about the social, economic, and moral issues that would be sparked for debate over the justice of this couple to bear children.  They are illiterate, they live in extreme poverty, they bear a deadly disease that can be passed on to their children, and they can't provide a square meal.  There was nothing they wanted more in this world than to have a child.  A far cry from the other side of the world where the educated, rich and healthy abort over a million babies a year.

Yet, the Giver of gifts knows all.  And I watched as Pam safely snuggled in her mother's love.

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Divine appointments.  We have them often here in Moz.  Today Lou and I stopped by a man's house in Project Life.  He is a regular at a weekly bairro Bible study.  Last week we prayed for him as he was not feeling well. Normally I am at the Bible studies but this week I felt compelled to walk in the bairros visiting the patients.  As we arrived at his house, he didn't come out the door to greet us.  Instead, his wife quietly took some chairs into the house for us to sit on. No matter how sick a Mozambican may be, they will come out to greet a guest. This man was too sick to walk, could not sit, and was barely audible.  It was apparent that he was in serious danger from dehydration.  One more night, and we would have returned for a funeral.

It is hard to imagine a world where you just accept your fate without a fight; no emergency service, no availability of a car, and the hospital too far for the ill to walk. Our car became the ambulance and we rushed him off to the local hospital.  We were thankful that there was a nurse on hand.  They started an IV and wisked him away to join a few others in the adult wing of the hospital. Once again I marveled at God's timing.  As Lou would say, his name was written in the palm of God's hand.

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I just received word that my friend Mariana passed away.  She had been so ill that she had gone to live with family in Chimoio. (It is about halfway to Zimbabwe.)  I was sad that I would not be able to see her.  Yet strangely enough, as we were driving to the Women's Congress a week and a half ago the bus stopped along side the road in Chimoio.  Who should come across the street to see me?  Mariana!  I was able to see her for a few brief minutes. Another divine appointment.  Now my friend is free from all her pain and sorrow.  She is in the presence of our Savior and holding His hand.