Friday: Inside Story – Cry of the Kalahari: Part 2
The desert sun streamed down mercilessly as the little man crept forward with his bow. From his thin, wrinkled appearance one might suppose he was in his seventies, but his body was accustomed to the scarcity of food and water, and his reflexes were lightning fast.
Image © Clarence Stewart from GoodSalt.com
Steeped in the accumulated wisdom of his ancestors, he cautiously moved closer to the small herd of grazing buck. When he was close enough he fitted a poisoned arrow to his bow, aimed carefully, and let the arrow fly. It found its mark, but the buck’s hide was tough and the arrow didn’t penetrate deeply. The buck looked around, then charged the Bushman, catching him on its terrible horns and tossing him until his intestines hung out of his abdomen, covered with sand and grit. After the buck left the Bushman staggered to his feet and, clutching the dirty mass to himself, headed for the only help he knew, the Adventist hospital miles away!
He was barely conscious when he reached the hospital compound. The horrified staff rushed him to the operating room, marveling at the desperate stamina that had brought him there. The surgeon prayed earnestly as he cleansed the intestines, replaced them in the abdominal cavity, and sutured the gaping wound closed. He knew that only God could heal the Bushman.
With careful nursing and much prayer he eventually recovered and returned to his family, leaving the hospital staff to wonder if he had also learned of God’s love during his hospital stay.
Several months later, a little man with a horrible scar on his abdomen came to the hospital bringing a four-foot chain of beads, painstakingly handcrafted with primitive tools, as his expression of gratitude to the doctor who had saved his life.
Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help to establish a Seventh-day Adventist primary school in Botswana. Please plan to give generously on the Thirteenth Sabbath, or anytime on our secure website: giving.adventistmission.org.
___ Dr. K. Seligman is a practicing physician in Gaborone, Botswana.
Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Find more mission stories at www.adventistmission.org
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This story happened in 1974 at Kanye Hospital in Botswana. My dad, Dr. Harold Frank (now passed away) was one of the doctors there at the time. I remember, as a teen, seeing the bushman sitting on a low wall outside of the hospital a few months after the incident. My dad told me the story as Dr. Seligman wrote about it, however a couple of more interesting details. My dad, who was one of the doctors who operated on the bushman said, that it took about a week for the bushman to make it to the hospital, by then his intestines were very infected and they thought they were going to lose him right on the operating room table. He and the others were very surprised to see the bushman come through, and felt that due to the bushmans outdoor lifestyle, that they had a very strong immune system. Also the buck that had gored the bushman was a Kudu, which is the second largest African antelope. Rather surprised to see a pic of a smaller White tailed deer, which is only seen in North America in the article. LOL!