It was before sunrise, and I was having my morning devotions when I heard a knock at our door. I opened the door and found my friend, Nasa, looking shaken. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s my pregnant wife, Egewa. She is bleeding and is too weak to walk. I need to take her to the hospital. Can you help me?”

“Of course!” I said “Is anyone else with you?”

“Nasato (their eldest daughter who is 15 years old), Naomi (their baby) and Egewa’s elderly mother.”

Soon we were in our dinghy skimming along the river in the early morning light, heading for the Balimo hospital. Egewa’s mother and Nasato did their best to protect her from the chilly breeze as she lay curled up on the floor of the dinghy. Nasato seemed so upbeat and cheerful that I wondered if she was aware of the seriousness of her mother’s condition.

At the Balimo waterfront I sent a young man to get the ambulance. As Nasato and her grandmother unloaded their bags onto the shore and tended to the baby, Nasa told me what had happened. “On our way to your house this morning, Egewa became so weak that she had to stop and lie down. She called Nasato over to talk with her . . .” Nasa paused as he struggled to maintain his composure. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I understood that this young mother, facing her death, had given instructions to her eldest daughter to be prepared to take care of the family. Nasa continued, “Nasato started crying very hard. But then she stopped crying and began singing a song about Jesus. I joined her, and soon her mother was singing as well. The whole mood changed. We became cheerful!”

After several days in the hospital, Egewa’s strength came back, and she recovered. I thank God for the courage of young Nasato. The Bible says, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength” (Ps. 8:2).

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