| Hallelujah Moment from Mozambique: Baby No Name | ||||||||||||||||||
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by Rachel Gabler |
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July 10, 2009 The cry of a baby was heard in the village of Ilha Inamisengo, Mozambique. A new life was born. The joy of childbirth, however, soon gave way to heartbreak. Both mother and baby were very sick and the baby was not expected to survive. There would be no need to give this child a name. After all, a family does not name a baby until they are sure the baby will live. The baby had no name. In Africa, people's names are their identity. Who you are is determined by who you are named after. Naming a baby is, therefore, particularly meaningful. So why name an infant if it is going to die? When emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual resources are stretched to the breaking point, you must protect them and conserve them. There is no point in naming a dying baby. Mercy Air regularly transports Nurse Liana and her health team to this village. On one of their visits they airlifted mother and baby out by a Mercy Air helicopter and admitted them to the hospital at Marrumeu. Both were stabilized and brought back to the village. But mother wasn't getting well. When Mercy Air brought Nurse Liana and her health team back to revisit the village, the mother had died. Now the baby was even less likely to be named. The father picked up his motherless infant and brought her to Nurse Liana. He pleaded with the nurse and her health team to take the baby, giving it a chance to survive. There was no one else who could take care of the baby. The team took the baby to the orphanage, and "Baby No Name" thrived! The father has visited baby several times and was so happy with the baby's progress that he gave the child a name. The baby was named "Liana," after the nurse who rescued her and provided hope. Welcome, Baby Liana. You are a child of hope. Dan and Rachel Gabler are Global Ministries' missionaries on loan to Mercy Air in South Africa. Ways to Support this Ministry You can support this ministry by sharing gifts through The Advance or by designated giving through your local church: # 12939Z — Dan Gabler, United Methodist Missionary Hallelujah Moments
Date posted: Jul 09, 2009 |
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