A huge pumpkin and 20 eggs
Seven months ago, 16-year-old Moses was visiting his uncle (also referred to in Mwinika culture as his father) who is the great chief of the village where missionaries Francois and Nadia Hattingh live and invest their lives in sharing the gospel with the Mwinika people. Moses barely survived a vicious attack and subsequently had his leg amputated at a faraway hospital in a big city. (See the earlier story.)
God used Nadia Hattingh to minister to Moses in the early hours of his terrible trauma. Since Francois was gone, it was Nadia who worked to stop the bleeding, drove him to the nearest ill-equipped clinic, held Moses’ hand while they cleaned his wounds (minus any pain-killer beyond Tylenol), provided him with blankets and stayed with him until he was calmed.
Then she drove back to the village alone in the dark on a washed-out road and prayed and worked frantically to get Moses transported to a better-equipped hospital.
Months later, after the amputation and recovery, Moses returned to the village for awhile and Nadia cleaned and dressed his wounds while he continued to recuperate.
Eventually, Moses returned to his mother and his home village.
Last week, Moses’ uncle, the great chief, and Moses’ father came to Nadia to present her with gifts from Moses’ family to thank her for helping Moses through his terrible ordeal. They brought with them a huge pumpkin and 20 eggs—a fortune in that Mwinika village.
“I was humbled by their generosity and thanks,” Nadia writes.
Nadia is sad that Moses lives too far away to come to Bible teaching now that he’s back at home. “Continue to pray for this young man as he faces many challenges in the years to come,” she writes. “Pray for him as his doctors may try to fit him with an artificial leg if his family can gather the finances for the trip back to the big city and medical expenses.” But beyond all that, Nadia has one consuming prayer for young Moses.
“Pray too that he will have a real encounter with Christ and come to know Him as Savior.”