TRUE FRIENDSHIP

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  (John 15:13 NIV)

The [following] incident was told to Col. John W. Mansur during the Vietnam War.

An orphanage in a Vietnamese village had been struck by mortar fire.  Missionaries and two children were killed, and several children were injured.  One was an eight-year old girl.  When medical aid was sought, American military personnel responded.  The navy doctor's examination revealed that some of the uninjured children's blood matched the injured girl's.

Working through broken Vietnamese and sign language, the medical personnel told the frightened children that unless some of the injured girl's blood could be replaced, she would die.  Then they asked, "Would any of you be willing to give her your blood?"

After a period of awkward silence a boy named Heng haltingly raised his hand.  Quickly the young lad was laid on a mat beside the girl and a needle inserted into his vein.  As the transfusion started, he suddenly covered his face and uttered a sob.  The occasional sob turned into steady weeping.  The medical team knew something was wrong but had no way to clearly communicate with the boy until a Vietnamese nurse arrived.

The nurse began a dialogue in her own language with the sobbing boy.  As their conversation continued, his crying gradually ceased, and a sense of peace spread over his face. Then the nurse spoke to the American medical team and unraveled the boy's mysterious behavior.

"He thought he was dying.  He misunderstood you.  He thought you had asked him to give all his blood so the little girl could live."

A dumbfounded American nurse asked, "Why would he be willing to do that?"

When the Vietnamese nurse posed the question to the boy, he responded, "She's my friend." 

-- Dr. Norm Wakefield & Jody Brolsma in “Men Are from Israel, Women Are from Moab”

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