To save lives, she would risk her own
A woman doctor! Missionary William Mayweather can’t hide his disappointment. The Nynabo mission in Liberia, Africa, desperately needs help, but he’s vowed not to put another female in jeopardy. Too bad flame-haired Dr. Mary O’Hara refuses to turn back—and he cannot allow her to go into the jungle alone.
Medicine or marriage? For Mary, the choice was clear. Far away from the patriarchal medical community, she resolves to be of real service. She’ll willingly go head-to-head with the handsome, opinionated missionary, even in the face of deadly danger. Yet the greatest tests lie in trusting God’s plan—for the mission, and her future happiness in this untamed, beautiful land….
“It’s no shame to admit your weakness. It’s not necessary to be strong all the time. Most women collapse after similar experiences.”
William obviously had no experience with women who weren’t trained from birth to rely on a manly pillar of strength. “I’m not most women,” Mary said.
“So you seem determined to prove. May I suggest that even strong women need to sit and rest after an ordeal?”
Mary simply nodded, overwhelmed with exhaustion and shock. William started to walk off, and unexpected panic overruled her need to appear in control. “Wait, I… Don’t go. Not yet.”
William looked startled. Then his eyes softened and he sat down beside her. “You’ll feel better after a little rest.”
The fire’s warmth seeped in and added to her exhaustion. Her head began to nod, and William pulled her near and supported her in the crook of his arm. It felt too right to protest. But although he might have saved her life and offered her comfort, he was a pastor. He would have done the same for anyone. She shouldn’t make the mistake of reading too much into a man just doing his job.
DEBBIE KAUFMAN
never heeded her mother’s advice to get her nose out of a book—except for when it was time to have adventures outside the written pages. Adventures like running a rural airport, working as a small-town journalist, teaching school and traveling to China to establish an adoption program, just to name a few. Of course, all these things were still accomplished with a good book in one hand.
Time and technology have marched on since her first visit to the bookmobile, but Debbie still likes her library to be portable. So these days you may find her with her nose in an e-reader that goes wherever she does. But mostly now, you’ll find her perched in front of a computer creating her own award-winning stories. Debbie currently lives in Georgia and enjoys spending time with her husband and their four children, three grandchildren and two dogs.
The Doctor’s Mission
Debbie Kaufman
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
—Romans 8:28
To my husband, Bill, for always believing in me.
To my children Emily, Dan and Dave, for all the times I said, “After I finish the book.”
And to my friends Sandy, Mae and Dianna, for their faithful support.
Contents
Chapter One
Liberia, Africa, 1918
William Mayweather placed his worn leather Bible on the table beside him and stepped out on the deep, shaded porch of the Newaka Mission Station. His evening devotions would have to wait if what he was hearing was any indication of what was to come. The smooth, hand-hewn rail transmitted the day’s heat through his hand while he listened for confirmation of his hopes from the dense Liberian jungle.
There it was. His ears hadn’t deceived him. The escalating cries of monkeys in the treetops telegraphed a clear message over and above the noise of the busy mission compound. Someone was coming. Finally.
The two-week delay here at the base mission station had seemed like forever despite the hospitality of his hosts, Hannah and Karl Jansen. William chafed to get back to the Kru people and begin his work anew. He didn’t even mind the amount of physical labor that would be needed to restore his former mission at Nynabo after a year of unfettered jungle reclamation.
He looked past the rectangular compound lined with tin-roofed wooden buildings to the welcoming arch at the entrance of the mission. No one yet.
The Newaka mission had long ago brought in tin from the beach to roof their home, the school and the