A Christmas miracle

How I would have loved to see Natasha's face on Christmas morning, but the joy of answered prayers and renewed faith was the gift I received.

By Kate O'Donnell
December 2007

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All my Christmases in Guyana were filled will awe and wonder. But I want to share with you a small Christmas miracle from one of those years, and just how much God listens to our requests and is concerned about the wishes of our innermost heart, even a wish as small as a yoyo.

Natasha and Scarboro missioner Kate O'Donnell met when Kate first arrived in Guyana, and they remained friends. Kate has now returned to Canada to coordinate the work of the Lay Mission Office.

Within a few days of my arrival in the town of New Amsterdam I met Natasha while volunteering at the hospital. Natasha was a young girl, nine years of age and very sick with HIV/AIDS. She was extremely thin and could not walk, and I never heard her speak. However, little by little Natasha started to gain strength and after about six weeks, I heard her say "kitty." There, in the corner of her bed, a cat had jumped up. Cats along with other animals would wander in and out of the hospital.

November rolled around and one day when I was visiting Natasha she proceeded to tell me that Santa was bringing her a yoyo for Christmas. I told her I was not sure if there were yoyos in Guyana. She reminded me that Santa had all the yoyos and that he would bring her one.

So started my search for a yoyo and I could not find one anywhere. I started asking everyone I met and the answer was always the same; no one knew where I could get a yoyo. I knew that if I had one mailed from Canada it would arrive too late. Christmas week I told Natasha that I did not think Santa had made any yoyos this year, but she proceeded to let me know differently. At this point I started praying: "God, all I want for Christmas is a yoyo!"

December 23 rolled around and I was still without my yoyo. I went once more to the hospital to try to tell Natasha about all the other things Santa could bring her, like the books and teddy bear that I knew she would be receiving, but Natasha wasn't having any of it. With confidence she reminded me that Santa loves good boys and girls and she had been good. Santa was going to bring her a yoyo. I left the hospital with a heavy heart and another plea to God: "Please God, just a yoyo, that is all I want for Christmas."

On my way home, I happened to drop by a store and poured my heart out to Alana, the owner. I was flabbergasted when I heard her say that she thought she had one somewhere. We began to search her shop and sure enough hiding in the back was a yoyo. The package was a bit damaged and dirty but who cared. It was a yoyo and it even lit up. My heart sang praises to God who saw the faith of a child and heard my prayer.

The next day being Christmas Eve, I was leaving for Georgetown to spend Christmas with other members of our Scarboro team in Guyana. I took my small package to leave with the ward nurse so that she would place it beside Natasha's bed on Christmas morning. Then I went to visit Natasha. Santa had come to the ward, she told me, and she personally asked him for a yoyo, stressing that she wanted one that lit up.

I couldn't believe it. My eyes filled with tears of joy. I was once more reminded, through the faith of a child, just how much God loves and cares for us and knows exactly what we want before we even ask for it. Such a simple thing as a yoyo and the joy it can bring. How I would have loved to see Natasha's face on Christmas morning, but the joy of answered prayers and renewed faith was the gift I received.

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