The Unexpected Miracle

Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, Thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary. Psalms 68:9

The sun blazed hot over a small, Ethiopian village, where a single drop of rain never fell in the last three years, leaving the ground with a thick layer of dust.  My husband and I, along with our three month old baby boy, arrived a few months prior to this remote village, Sake, where there was no running water or electricity. The only way we had water at home was to hire four school boys every Friday to fetch water from the nearby spring half a mile away. Together, the boys worked quickly to fill two huge metal barrels for our small family to use for cooking, drinking, and quick  baths over the week.

One Friday afternoon, the boys didn’t come, which was a concern. Usually, the boys would come with their big pots, excited to run down the craggy mountain slope, wade through the flowing stream,  and collect water that gushed out the rocks in a cave. The sun was quickly setting and there was no sign of the boys. Concerned, my husband asked a neighbor if she knew why the boys did not come. The  neighbor said, “Oh, mister, somebody died in the village and I am sure the boys are there to help the bereaved family.” 

“What? Are you going to pray for rain to drop from the sunny and cloudless sky?

We were wondering what to do next. We only had a gallon of water left that was saved to prepare the baby’s formula.  What about us? We could not prepare food for the Sabbath, nothing to drink, and nothing to shower with. I was worried that if my husband would go and fetch some water, he could only carry two gallons at a time and it would take him at least an hour for one trip. I suggested to my husband that we pray for God to send us some rain. My husband was surprised because I suggested something impossible, saying “What? Are you going to pray for rain to drop from the sunny and cloudless sky? Remember it has not rained for the last 3 years.” I replied, “Well, God can bring down rain from a sunny and cloudless sky. Nothing is impossible with Him. Why don’t we pray now?” My husband did not believe it was going to rain so he told me to pray, and agreed to kneel down with me. He added that if he prayed and did not believe what he prayed for, God would not answer his prayer. I told him to please pray for his unbelief. I suggested to my husband that I will pray, but first we need to rinse the two metal barrels sitting underneath the gutters. He replied in astonishment, “What? Where will we get the water to wash the barrels?” I replied, “We have a gallon of water. We can show God we have faith in Him by using the last gallon of water to clean and rinse out the metal barrels in preparation to receive the rain.” 

With a worried look on his face, my husband replied in protest, “But the gallon of water we have is for our baby!” I  insisted on still going ahead and washing the barrels, which he did, then we knelt down and I prayed. After we said, “Amen”, massive drops of rain the size of marbles, pelted heavily on the corrugated tin roof. The sound was deafening! I got scared thinking that the very torrent of heavy rain might cause the roof to cave in. The strong rain poured for about thirty minutes, then it stopped almost as suddenly as it came. 

The ground on the inner side of the gate was completely soaked, but the areas outside the gate were very dry.

My husband looked through the glass window observing the parched cattle as they were running quickly down the slope to the river to get a drink. The thick dust flying in the air got him thinking that there was no rain on the other side of the fence close to our home. He went out and checked the barrels. They were full of water, but did not overflow. They were filled exactly to the brim. Then he went to the gate of the campus that encompassed and protected the clinic, church, and a small elementary school. He noticed that the ground on the inner side of the gate was completely soaked, but the areas outside the gate were very dry. He came back to report to me his discovery. He said, “This is impossible! How can even a few drops of rain not fall outside the gate and on the other side of the barbed wire fence?”  We did not understand how God did it, but we know He answered my simple prayer. 

How easy it is to pray to God, but as human beings, we choose to limit God‘s power and greatness with what we think is possible in our own minds. We try to solve our problems which are insurmountable and impossible, when we have a God who is all powerful. Instead of taking things into our own hands, let’s remember that we can ask help from our Heavenly Father who is in control of everything—nature and all the affairs in the universe. He will take care of us. He will never leave us or forsake us in our time of need. We can trust Him always.

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Rupelin Pichot is a career missionary who has spent 15 years in Ethiopia.  After her husband Artemio Gorospe was killed in the mission field, she took over the primary care clinic, where she ran a rural medical clinic, seeing up to 120 patients per day with an assistant.  While in Ethiopia, she also worked in community health, family planning, and children’s feeding programs near Ethiopian Adventist College. She then spent 10 years in Madagascar with her new husband, who was the president of a new Adventist College that was being built, Adventist University – Zurcher in Madagascar. While in Madagascar, she functioned as a teacher and school nurse.  The new university grew quickly. It started by offering a degree in theology, then soon added business, accounting, computer science, and eventually, nursing and education degrees. After 25 busy years of service in the Mission field as a Registered nurse, Educator and Medical Missionary she returned to the United States to complete her nurse practitioner degree at Southern Adventist University, along with a doctorate in Lifestyle Medicine.  She is a woman of faith, a woman of prayer, and a servant of Jesus Christ wherever He sends her.  She works as a medical missionary primary care provider in Hayden, Idaho.