Hello, friends, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. Today I want to share with you one of the most remarkable missionary stories I've ever heard. It's about a hot water bottle, a tiny premature baby, a ten-year-old girl's audacious prayer, and a God who delights in answering before we even call.
This is a true story told by Dr. Helen Roseveare, a medical missionary from England who served in what was then the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, from 1953 to 1973. Helen was an incredible woman—brilliant, courageous, and utterly sold out to Jesus. She endured unimaginable hardships, including being held captive and assaulted during the Simba Rebellion in the 1960s. Yet she returned to Africa after her ordeal because of her deep love for the Congolese people and her conviction that God had called her there.
This story perfectly captures Helen's blend of practical medical work, deep faith, and honest wrestling with belief. Let me take you to Central Africa on a night that would test everyone's faith.
One night in Central Africa, Helen had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward. But in spite of all they could do, the mother died, leaving them with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. Can you imagine? A newborn who's already fighting for life, and a toddler who's just lost her mother.
Helen knew they would have difficulty keeping the baby alive. They had no incubator. They had no electricity to run an incubator even if they had one. They had no special feeding facilities. And although they lived on the equator—where you'd think it would always be hot—the nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts that could easily kill a fragile preemie.
A student-midwife went for the box they kept for such babies and for the cotton wool to wrap the baby in. Another student went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle—the only way they had to keep the baby warm. But she came back shortly, in distress, to tell Helen that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates.
"And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. Friends, in Central Africa in the 1960s, you couldn't just run to the drugstore. There were no stores down forest pathways. Hot water bottles didn't grow on trees. This was their last one, and now it was gone.
Helen, ever practical, said, "All right, 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." But in her heart, she knew the baby's chances were slim.
The following noon, as she did most days, Helen went to have prayers with many of the orphanage children who gathered with her. She gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about, and she told them about the tiny baby. She explained their problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got chilled.
She also told them about the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died. These orphans understood that grief—many of them had lost their own mothers. What happened next is why I'm sharing this story with you.
During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl named Ruth prayed with what Helen described as "the usual blunt consciousness of our African children." Listen to this prayer:
"Please, God, send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, the baby'll be dead; so please send it this afternoon."
Can you imagine? This child is telling God that tomorrow won't work—they need the hot water bottle THIS AFTERNOON! While Helen gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, Ruth added a 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?"
Helen was put on the spot. Could she honestly say "Amen"? She writes, "I just did not believe that God could do this." Now listen to her honesty: "Oh yes, I know that He can do everything. The Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there?"
Here's what Helen was thinking: The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending a parcel from the homeland. She had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and she had never—ever—received a parcel from home. And anyway, if anyone did send a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? She lived on the equator!
I love Helen's honesty here. She's a missionary. She's given her life to serve God in Africa. She's seen Him work miracles. But she's also human, and she's thinking, "God, this is asking too much. This is impossible."
Halfway through the afternoon—the very afternoon Ruth had prayed —while Helen was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message came that there was a car at her front door. By the time she reached home, the car had gone, but there on the veranda was a large twenty-two pound parcel!
Helen felt tears pricking her eyes. She could not open the parcel alone, so she sent for the orphanage children. Can you picture this? Thirty or forty pairs of eyes watching as they carefully pulled off the string, undoing each knot. They folded the paper carefully, not wanting to tear it—because in Africa, nothing was wasted.
From the top, Helen lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as she gave them out. Then there were knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children began to look a little bored—bandages aren't very exciting when you're a child! Next came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas. Helen thought, "That would make a nice batch of buns for the weekend."
Then she put her hand in again and felt something. Could it really be? She grasped it and pulled it out. "A brand-new rubber hot water bottle!" she cried. Friends, Helen had not asked God to send it. She had not truly believed that He could. But there it was!
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 a small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone. She had never doubted! Never!
Looking up at Helen, 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?" This ten-year-old orphan girl understood something profound: God doesn't just meet practical needs. He shows His love in personal, tender ways. That dolly wasn't a necessity—but it showed a grieving two-year-old that God saw her, knew her pain, and loved her.
Now here's what makes this story even more incredible: That parcel had been on the way for five whole months! It had been packed up by Helen's former Sunday school class back in England. The leader of that class had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle—to the equator! One of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child.
Think about the timing. Five months before Ruth prayed, someone in England was packing a hot water bottle to send to equatorial Africa. They probably thought it was strange. They might have wondered if they'd heard God correctly. But they obeyed. And God orchestrated it so that the parcel arrived that very afternoon—the afternoon a ten-year-old girl prayed with absolute confidence that it would come.
This is exactly what Isaiah 65:24 promises: "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." God answered Ruth's prayer five months before she even prayed it! He had already set the answer in motion before the need even existed!
This is our God! He's not scrambling to figure out how to answer our prayers. He's not surprised by our needs. He's already orchestrating answers before we even know we need them. The question is: Do we have the faith of a ten-year-old orphan girl to believe that He will?
Let me share four powerful lessons from this story. First, childlike faith pleases God more than sophisticated unbelief. Ruth's "audacious" prayer got answered. Helen's careful, rational doubts were proven wrong. Jesus said we must become like little children to enter the kingdom. That includes believing God can do what seems impossible to our adult minds.
Second, God cares about details. He didn't just send a hot water bottle—He sent a dolly for a grieving child. He doesn't just meet our survival needs—He shows us His love in personal, tender, extravagant ways. Third, obedience in one place connects to answered prayer in another. Someone in England obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle. They had no idea why. But their obedience became the answer to a child's prayer in Africa. Friends, when God prompts you to do something that seems strange, obey! You might be the answer to someone's desperate prayer.
And fourth, missionaries are human too. Helen Roseveare was honest about her struggle to believe. She didn't pretend to have perfect faith. And that's actually encouraging! God uses people who wrestle with doubt but continue serving anyway.
Helen Roseveare went on to serve in Congo for 20 years total, training nurses and building medical facilities that served thousands. During the Simba Rebellion in 1964, she was taken captive, beaten, and assaulted. Many missionaries would have gone home and never returned. But Helen went back to Congo and served there until 1973. She spent the rest of her life traveling the world, challenging Christians—especially young people—to radical obedience and missionary service.
She often said, "The question is not 'Does God want to use me?' but 'Am I willing to be used?'" Helen Roseveare was willing. And because she was willing to go to a remote part of Africa with no incubators, no electricity, and no hot water bottles, she got to witness God's faithfulness in ways that would encourage millions of people for generations to come.
So here's what I want to ask you today: Are you praying with the faith of Ruth, or the doubt of Helen? Are you bold enough to ask God for specific things by specific times, believing He can and will answer? Or are you praying safe, vague prayers that don't require much faith?
And here's another question: Are you obedient enough to be the answer to someone else's prayer? When God prompts you to do something that seems strange or impractical, do you obey? That Sunday school class in England could have thought, "Why would anyone need a hot water bottle on the equator?" But they obeyed, and a baby's life was saved.
We serve a God who answers before we call. He's already working on solutions to problems we don't even know we'll have yet. The question is: Will we trust Him? Will we pray with childlike faith? And will we obey when He prompts us, even when it doesn't make sense?
Lord, forgive us for our sophisticated unbelief. Forgive us for limiting You with our rational minds. Give us the faith of Ruth—bold, specific, confident faith that believes You will answer. And give us the obedience of that Sunday school class—willing to do what You ask even when it seems strange. Help us to remember that You answer before we even call, and that nothing is impossible for You. Use us to be answers to other people's prayers. In Jesus's name, amen.
Thank you for joining me. This story has encouraged my faith for years, and I pray it encourages yours too. God is faithful. He hears. He answers. And sometimes, He does it through a hot water bottle and a dolly, delivered at just the right moment.
Until next time, keep your eyes on the nations and remember —before you call, He will answer. While you are yet speaking, He will hear. Trust Him with childlike faith!
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