Stories From Miss Ginny • God’s Wisdom Needed Daily
Caring for victims of a vicious attack
In every area of our ministry, we depended on the Lord’s wisdom day by day, whether it was caring for patients, teaching children, helping in the churches, or all the other activities in which we were involved. A vivid reminder of this is an incident that happened in May of 1978.
A young man in a nearby village had gone berserk and stabbed several people. One woman was killed. Shortly after the attack, a man and two young children were brought to the Anik clinic. We worked until 4:00 AM trying to save the life of the little girl but were not successful. I held her in my arms as she died and prayed for peace for her family. I also prayed that God would give us strength during this terrible situation. I had never experienced anything like it before.
How thankful I am for special wisdom and strength that night. Only the Lord could have guided as I started intravenous fluids and emergency treatment. Word had gotten to the government clinic in Darit, about 18 km from Anik. Soon, the doctor assigned to that clinic arrived and immediately began helping us with the injured victims.
By morning, the condition of the man and his seven-year-old son had stabilized. We called on the radio for the MAF plane to come and take the patients to the Baptist Hospital. The trip was only 18 minutes compared to four hours by road.
That same morning, the young man who had attacked these people was also brought to our village of Anik. He was to be placed in a vehicle to be transported to Sungai Pinyuh, a town on the coast. There, he would be examined and then put in jail awaiting sentencing. In the process of subduing him, he had been beaten and injured. I was asked to look at him and bandage his wounds. I was also told that I could give him some medicine. How sad that he was unable to really comprehend what was happening. I cared for him as best I could and then watched as he was taken away.
Eventually, the man and the young boy completely recovered at the hospital and were able to return home to their village. They were indeed thankful for the care received.
The woman who had been killed had recently been a patient in our clinic for two weeks. Her little girl was the one who died in my arms, so I knew this child. I remember her coming into our yard to play. Thoughts went through my mind—did she know the Lord? Did we clearly explain the way of salvation to the mother when she was our patient? What a reminder to us to be sharing the gospel with our patients and praying to God that they might learn of the love of Christ for them.