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小女孩的祈祷
海伦·罗丝妩（Helen Roseveare）
在中非洲的一个晚上，我在产房努力地帮一个妈妈生产。虽然我们尽了一切的努力，她还是逝世了，留下了一个身体瘦小、哭着的早产儿和一个两岁的小女儿。要让这个婴儿活下去是很困难的事。我们没有保温箱，也没有电力让保温箱运转，没有任何特殊喂食设备。虽然我们生活在赤道，但晚上经常会因变化莫测的气流而很泠。
一位见习护产士去找适合这种小婴儿的箱子和包裹的棉布，另一位去加火烧热水以便倒进热水瓶。不久，她沮丧地回来，告诉我说，她在倒热水时，热水瓶爆裂了。在热带气候下，橡胶很容易劣化。她叫着：“…那是我们最后的热水瓶！”
在西方，谚语比喻说：因溅出来的牛奶而哭叫是无益的；同样的，在中非洲，因爆裂的热水瓶而哭叫也是无益的。它们不长在树上，在树林小径上也没有任何的杂货店。我说：“没关系，你尽可能安全地把婴儿靠近火，睡在婴儿与门的中间，以挡掉气流。你的工作就是让婴儿保持温暖。”
第二天中午，我如往常地和一群愿意与我在一起的孤儿祷告。我告诉这些小孩为这个早产儿的各种需求祷告，我说明要让这个小婴儿保暖的困难，也提到了热水瓶。这个婴儿如果被冻着，很容易就死掉。我也告诉他们这个二岁大的小女孩，是因为母亲死去而痛哭。
在祷告时间，一个名叫璐丝的十岁小女孩，用非洲小孩贯有的天真祷告着。她祷告说：
“上帝，请祢寄给我们一个热水瓶。如果明天寄来没有用了，这个婴儿将会死去。所以，请祢今天下午寄到。”
此时，我暗地里因这个祷告的大胆而倒吸了一口气。接着，她理所当然地祷告说：
“……在祢处理这件事的同时，可不可以请祢寄一个洋娃娃给这个小女孩──让她知道祢真的爱她？”
同往常一样，我是在现场与小孩子们一起祷告的，但我能真心的说“阿们！”吗？我并不相信上帝能作到。哦，是的，我知道祂可完成每一件事，圣经上是如此说，但那是有条件限制的，不是吗？上帝要回答这个特殊祷告的唯一方法是从我的祖国寄一个包裹来，但那时我己经在非洲快4年了，而我却从来没有收到从家乡寄来的包裹。即便如此，有谁会在包裹里面放一个热水瓶？我现在是住在赤道！
下午，约过一半的时候，当时我正在护士训练学校教学，有人传口信说：有一辆车停在我的正门前。当我到家时，这辆车己经走了，但在走廊，有一个22磅的包裹。我感到眼泪刺痛了我的眼睛，我无法独自打开包裹，所以，我去叫这些孤儿来。我们一起解开绳索，小心地打开每一个结，我们将纸折好，以免撕坏。
兴奋不觉地涌上每个人的心底，三、四十双眼睛注视着这个大的硬纸箱。我从最上面拿到一个颜色鲜明的针织物，当我拿出时，眼睛闪烁着；接着，我拿出一个给痲疯病人用的针织绷带，这群小孩开始觉得有点无聊；再来是一盒混着紫色及黄色的葡萄干──这个周末可以用来做出一批好吃的小点心；当我再将手放进纸箱，我感觉到……真的是吗？我抓住，拉出来，不自觉地叫出来：
“是一个全新的热水瓶！”
我并未祈求上帝寄来，我并没有真的相信他会作到。璐丝在这群小孩的前排，她急忙近前来，叫着说：
“如果上帝寄来热水瓶，也一定会寄来洋娃娃！”她在纸箱底翻找着，最后，拿出一个漂亮、穿着衣服的小洋娃娃！她的眼睛闪亮着，她从不怀疑。她看着我说：
“妈咪，我可不可以跟你一起去，将这个洋娃娃拿给小女孩，这样她会知道耶稣真的爱她？”
这个包裹的运送经过了整整五个月，由我以前的主日学校班级寄来的。他们的领导者聆听并顺服了来自上帝的感动，寄一个热水瓶到赤道来；其中一个女孩子便放上了洋娃娃，要送给非洲的小孩──在一个十岁小女孩笃信地祷告要送达的“那天下午”的五个月之前！
“他们尚未求告，我就应允；正说话的时候，我就垂听。”（赛65:24）
__________
翻译：灵魂终极关怀小站
本故事最初发表在网站http://www.lionshouse.org上，并且，编辑收到了海伦医生的信，确认了此故事的真实性。在海伦医生所著的《活的信仰》（Living
Faith）一书中，亦讲述了此事（该书最近已有Bethany Press再版）。文中的婴儿当时存活了下来，但不幸约在1961年死于流感。
本故事亦经“真或假”网站（http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/h/hotwaterbottle.htm）查实。
英文原文：http://webs2.fln.org/salsa/SingleInspiration/Hot Water Bottle.htm
THE HOT WATER BOTTLE
A True Story By Helen Roseveare, Missionary to Africa
One night, in Central Africa, I had worked hard to help a mother in the
labor ward; but in spite of all that we could do, she died leaving us
with a tiny, premature baby and a crying, two-year-old daughter.
We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive. We had no incubator. We
had no electricity to run an incubator, and no special feeding
facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly
with treacherous drafts.
A student-midwife went for the box we had for such babies and for the
cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up
the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly, in
distress, to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber
perishes easily in tropical climates. "...and it is our last hot water
bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over
spilled milk; so, in Central Africa it might be considered no good
crying over a burst water bottle. They do not grow on trees, and there
are no drugstores down forest pathways. All right," I said, "Put the
baby as near the fire as you safely can; sleep between the baby and the
door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."
The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with many
of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the
youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them
about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm
enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if
it got chilled. I also told them about the two-year-old sister, crying
because her mother had died. During the prayer time, one ten-year-old
girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt consciousness of our African
children. "Please, God," she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be
no good tomorrow, God, the baby'll be dead; so, please send it this
afternoon." While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she
added by way of corollary, " ...And while You are about it, would You
please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love
her?" As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I
honestly say, "Amen?" I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh,
yes, I know that He can do everything: The Bible says so, but there are
limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular
prayer would be by sending a parcel from the homeland. I had been in
Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever
received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send a parcel, who
would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!
Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses'
training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front
door. By the time that I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on
the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel! I felt tears pricking
my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone; so, I sent for the orphanage
children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each
knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement
was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the
large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored,
knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then, there were the
knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children began to
look a little bored. Next, came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - -
that would make a nice batch of buns for the weekend. As I put my hand
in again, I felt the...could it really be? I grasped it, and pulled it
out. Yes, "A brand-new rubber, hot water bottle!" I cried. I had not
asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was
in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If
God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!" Rummaging
down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully
dressed dolly. Her eyes shone: She had never doubted! Looking up at me,
she asked, "Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that
little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my
former Sunday School class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's
prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. One of the
girls had put in a dolly for an African child -- five months earlier in
answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "That
afternoon!" "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will
answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Isaiah 65:24
Helen Roseveare a doctor missionary from England to Zaire, Africa, told
this as it had happened to her in Africa. She shared it in her testimony
on a Wednesday night at Thomas Road Baptist Church.