Late one evening, Giso, a boy about 5 or 6 years old, was excited because he could hear the sound of his father’s motor canoe coming across the lagoon. It had been a long time since he had seen his father, and Giso was eager to hear all about his recent trip to Kimama Village. Grabbing the kerosene lantern, he quickly descended the house ladder and headed down the path to the water’s edge, where his father’s canoe was pulling in.
Reaching the canoe in record time, Giso showed up as his father finished gathering a few last items and was securing the filled 16-gallon fuel container. Seeing the face of his son glowing in the light of the lantern, Giso’s father quickly shouted, “STOP!” and warned him not to come into the canoe with the lantern. It would be dangerous for the lantern’s open flame to come so close to the fuel container.
But his warning went unheeded. In his excitement to see his father, Giso jumped into the big canoe and ran toward the back, where his father was, lantern in hand.
It all happened so quickly that it is hard to know what happened first. Suddenly, the container holding the 16 gallons of gas erupted into flames, and there was a tremendous explosion. There was fire everywhere: in the canoe, on the water, and all over Giso. He ran back and forth trying to get out of the canoe, but the sides were too high for Giso to climb over.
Meanwhile, when Giso’s father saw him coming toward him, he was alarmed. Just moments before the fire erupted, he jumped out of the canoe and into the water. When his head came above the water, he saw fire everywhere and his little boy running back and forth, frantically trying to get out of the canoe. He felt helpless and frozen for a moment before his fatherly instincts kicked in, and he swam through the flames on the water to the canoe to save his little boy. He yanked Giso out of the boat and into the water, swimming to a spot where there was no gas floating on top, extinguishing the flames on Giso’s little body. By this time, Giso was already unconscious and severely burned all over. Everyone was sure he was dead.
However, when they realized Giso was alive, everyone jumped into action. They located another canoe and sped to the nearest hospital. By God’s providence, there was an Australian doctor at the rural hospital who was able to treat Giso’s burns. For six months, the doctor patiently nursed him back to health. Although Giso’s whole body was burned, his legs suffered the worst, looking ashen and deformed.
As Giso told me his story, he pulled up his pants legs to show me his calves. They were terribly scarred from his accident. It is a miracle of God that he can walk and an even greater miracle that he survived.
As he looks back on his childhood, Giso believes the Lord preserved his life for a reason. His mother had told him, “God has a plan for your life. That is why you are still alive.” I agree with her. I have watched the Lord use Giso in such a powerful way. But before that heart-changing conversion, Giso had one more near-death experience, which I will share in Part 2.
