A Vow Fulfilled

War is hell, but as Pamela Baumgartner discovered, you’ll find miracles in war as well.

A sudden barrage of gunfire broke the stillness of the night as it rang out on all sides. Teenage draftee Isidro jumped from his work station in the army kitchen. His unit had arrived in Esteli, in northern Nicaragua, at around midnight, but now he and another soldier were working at KP; they both refused to carry arms in the Sandinista Army. They’d been sent into the foothills surrounding the town, where they expected to engage the Contras.

The shooting continued. In the eerie predawn light, the windows framed a horrifying sight; there were bodies everywhere. The Contras had crept down during the night and stealthily taken up positions in trees, backyards and ditches.

Everyone in the building scrambled for safety. Some rushed out of the building, hands raised, but as they emerged were gunned down. Isidro hurriedly crawled toward the kitchen store-room, safe from the flying bullets. However, if they were found, they too would be ruthlessly killed.

He and a friend slipped inside and crouched among the food. Soon some other armed soldiers joined them. All, except for Isidro and his friend, were crying out in panic. They were praying.
Despite his prayers, Isidro still felt fear.

“Trust in God!” he encouraged the others as between prayers they reassured their companions with Bible verses. Then, like many confronted by death, he made a pact with God: “If You save me, I promise to work in service . . .”
Footsteps on the roof above, directly above their hiding place. “Contras!” someone whispered, pointing their gun toward the ceiling.

“We’ll die, but we’ll take him with us!”
“No!” Isidro interrupted. “Put down your gun!”
The soldier hesitated.
“Shooting is sure death,” Isidro argued. “Wait a little longer.”
Obediently, the soldier lowered his gun.
The footsteps paused then retreated, the battle over.

Years passed and the civil war ended and Isidro found himself working for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in child survival, a job that placed him in northern Nicaragua where much of the war had been fought. He worked with mothers in difficult circumstances, battling to keep their children alive.

How could he teach uneducated women the importance of an appropriate diet? He wanted them to see that proper food aids an infant’s growth and development.

One night he was pondering the dilemma when a flash of insight hit him: he would redesign the baby scales, calibrated against a child’s weight-for-age. A mother would clearly see if her child’s growth fell below the “normal” range or in a danger zone.

Isidro made a functioning model then randomly chose a community for trials. The community’s volunteer health worker joined him in the trial, and they began talking of the war while they worked. Isidro soon realised the nurse had been in the battle of Esteli, fighting with the Contras.

“I talked with the soldier who walked on the roof as we fled the battle,” she said. “He told me how he had walked on the roof of the Sandinista headquarters. He said he knew there were men beneath but he had heard that they were praying. As he listened, he knew he couldn’t shoot them, but as we retreated, he was killed.”

Isidro and the woman had once been obliged to be enemies. Now they worked together in peace for the good of innocents. Grateful for his spared life, Isidro now serves humanity, satisfied that in this he fulfils his vow.