The Corner of the Adobe House Holds -Morse Family Saved from Drowning Flood- A Testimony to Prayer!

This is an amazing story! Read these unknown amazing mission autobiographies. (footnote)

"It continued to rain, and the To-ba-to River began flooding and overflowing its banks into our garden and yard. Thus began a most frightening and staggering experience for the younger children and me. On the evening of October 22 we had our usual evening devotions and worship. We continued to remind our Heavenly Father that as Moses had told the Hebrew people to sprinkle the blood of their sacrificial lamb on their door post to protect them from the death angel, so we were trusting Him to keep us safe, under the blood of Jesus Christ, “our lamb”, even as Rev. 12:11 teaches: “...and they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death”

About midnight I awakened from a disturbing and unusual dream in which I was again reminded of the verse in Revelation, especially the part “—and the word of their testimony—”. I had followed the first part of it but not the second part. In my dream I said, “Praise the Lord”, and was immediately comforted. I awoke to the sound of boulders and logs knocking against each other just outside my bedroom window, and realized that the situation had become serious. Quickly lighting a lantern, I called Anzie and LaVerne to go with me to see what had happened. As we walked along the garden path I almost stepped off into the swift river which had already cut off about a fifth of our yard. The rushing torrent had destroyed the darn Russell had helped build on a branch of the river, and it was now rushing down its old bed and tearing away at our yard. The water was clear up to our house on that side, and we were now completely surrounded by the two branches of the flooding river. I felt this explained the dream I had — Satan was trying to destroy us but God had warned me and brought that scripture to my mind. Returning to the house, we called Ah-mo to join us in prayer- We not only trusted God to protect us, but praised Him the rest of the night.

On the porch, Anzic and LaVerne found some weeds commonly used for pig food, and they began stuffing them into the small holes appearing in the northwest corner of the adobe wall, which was the one being bombarded the hardest. I prayed to God to save that corner, for I felt if’ it held, the whole house would be saved, but if it gave way all would be lost.

At dawn A-hke-fu-yeh came running to say that the smaller branch of the river had gone down, and the villagers on the mountain had placed a large log across it so we could cross over. While quickly dressing Ruth, who had slept through it all, I looked out of the window and saw a great wall of water coming down the main channel toward the house. At that time I could not imagine where it came from, but did not have time to investigate. I later learned it was caused by a field sliding down the mountain into the river, increasing the torrential flow and turning the river directly toward our house.

Ah-mo took Ruth across the log to safety while I hurriedly grabbed up a change of clothes for the children and two small blankets. As I stepped down into the muddy yard and saw it was still raining I remembered the rain covers I had left at the door when I returned from Wa-shi-lo-gai and turned back to get them. As I did so the Christians on the shore began shout ing and LaVerne, who had stayed with me, screamed, “Mama, don’t go back”, so I went on across with him. We had barely gotten across when we heard the roar of the water and the house falling behind us. Anzie was praising the Lord so loudly I could hear her over the noise of the flood, Our precious God - loved us so much he had saved the house until a way of escape could be prepared — literally a path through the water!

I shall never forget that day — October 23, 1940. We stood on the bank of the river watching the devastation. Parts of our house, most of our possessions, the church, and several log cabins went swirling down in that terrible, roaring, boiling water. We could see water cascading down the mountainside across the river where we had never seen water before, It seemed to us that the whole world was being destroyed. The only thing standing was the northwest corner of the house which I had prayed for 50 fervently through the night! I wondered - both then and later — if the whole house might have been saved had I prayed for all of it as earnestly as I did for that corner. In retrospect we believe God in His wisdom acted in our best interests, but in those trying hours we found events hard to understand.

We finally went on up the mountain and sat by the fire in the home of one of our Christian friends, with not even a comb or toothbrush, and practically no bedding. Where would we sleep? The Lisu people didn’t have beds for themselves, let alone beds for guests. That night we slept on straw mats using our two small blankets for covering.

As soon as Isabel Maxey heard about the flood she hurried from Kang Pu, crossing the Mekong River which was also flooding. She had heard that Ruth had been washed down the river and drowned. Evidently someone had seen her large doll and thought it was Ruth. Needless to say, Isabel was happy to find Ruth alive and well. She very generously insisted that we come and stay with her at the outpost in Kang Pu until we decided what to do next ……………………..

What a wonderful prayer-answering God we have! I had prayed for that second protecting wall. Furthermore, when Robert returned to that area almost nine years later, that one corner of the house, for which I had prayed so hard, was still standing, a monument to God’s power and ability to answer prayer.” (pg206) )

(“The Dogs May Bark But The Caravan Moves On” – A Prequel to Exodus To A Hidden Valley. Gertrude Morse, College Press, 1998, Pg 202-204, 206) Morse Family in Asia 1921-1965