I would like to share with you one unforgettable experience.

One night after jogging with my husband, we arrived home and saw our street full of people and policemen. There, lying on the street was a lady covered with blood. Her husband had shot her four times in the abdomen and then killed himself at his own house.

Nobody was near her, she was all alone. The crowd did not come to help her. Immediately I knelt beside her and held her head up. As I saw her dire need for human warmth, I began to caress her head and comfort her. I wanted her to feel that she was not alone. I also wanted her to know the love of God through me. I told her that I was a doctor and requested that she shouldn't move.

Her name was Irene, which means "Peace." What a contradiction! I told her about the love of God and prayed with her. She prayed with me asking for the Lord's forgiveness. Also, she forgave her husband.

Just as we finished praying, we could hear the ambulance coming. It was determined that the bullets had struck her pancreas, intestines, liver, and one kidney.

After two days I went to my hospital and saw Irene in the Intensive Care Unit. She couldn't speak because she had a probe in her mouth, but she took my hand and caressed it, as if to reciprocate what I had done earlier for her. Again, I prayed with her and with a smile she thanked me.

A week later Irene went to be with the Lord.

Rosa Ainscough
Argentina
Doctor and Part-Time Chaplain
2001