A Drop In the Bucket
Margaret E. Rose, West Area President for the AB Women's Ministries of Michigan
Missionary Partnership Team for Wayne and Katherine Niles
– Missionary, Democratic Republic of Congo
How is it that a “drop in the bucket” could also be a “cool dip of water”? Wayne and Katherine Niles are missionaries in the Democratic Republic of Congo who are one of our American Baptist Women’s Ministries missionaries that we sponsor as a state of Michigan. Katherine was recently in Michigan for a tour of 10 church groups in a 6 day period. I was the fortunate person who arranged all of her visits, driving to these locations to inform others about the mission in Africa.
Many times she mentioned that our White Cross baby blankets, layettes, roller bandages, surgical caps, medical supplies and cash were a “drop in the bucket” to the 10 medical hospitals that receive the goods. After we complete our “quotas” and send our handiwork on; it then is sent in freight cargo containers with other needed medical supplies, wheelchairs, and other heavy medical equipment to Katherine via ship. She is then responsible to get it to the medical hospitals by heavy trucks and to one of the hospitals by airplane, but as it gets closer to the hospitals it might go by jeep or canoe. Africa is mainly sand so if the road erodes, the White Cross items then go by foot or head.
Yet once it arrives at the hospital those White Cross items become that “cool dip of water” for the young mother who just had a baby, or for the doctor who has been in need of medical supplies for many months. A “cool dip of water”, can you imagine that! I need to get an ice cold glass of water during my times of a quick hot flash. But Katherine is talking about a “cool dip of water” during a time when the patient is in over 90 degree temperatures and it has been hot, day after day and night after night. Do you remember your childhood when the family fan, yes fan, I did not say air-conditioner, I said fan; did not quite reach your room and you laid in bed being hot until that cool night breeze started to blow into your window.
After those ten presentations of hearing about that “cool dip of water”, I started wondering if we could make that “drop in the bucket” turn into a “cup in the bucket”!... so that, in the desert heat of the Congo our medical team will have more “cool cups of water” for their patients.
Thank you for all of the White Cross request that you are fulfilling! It is inspiring to be apart of the great national American Baptist Women's Ministries USA and Puerto Rico supporting our International Ministries missionaries!