Debbie Kaufman - The Doctor's Mission

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.

Debbie Kaufman

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Questions for Discussion

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 dormitories. The other outbuildings were thatched just like his in the interior at Nynabo were—if they still stood. He squinted, as though his vision could possibly penetrate the dense jungle vegetation that lay a few feet past the mission entrance. Perhaps it was only a supply run, but given the dangers of travel in the bush, the regular caravan would have welcomed additional support and waited for the two new volunteers promised him by the Mission Board.

His pulse elevated with anticipation. Reviving the compound at Nynabo was back within his reach. Doubts it would ever come to pass had fled at hearing of the unexpected providence of God. God who had supplied not one, but two men now en route to join him in spreading the Gospel, and one a doctor no less. It spoke volumes about the character and dedication of these new volunteers that they dared see past the mission’s deadly history and heed the call to evangelize the unreached peoples of the remote jungle interior. Now if they would just get here.

With his free hand he warded off the glare of the low-hanging sun. Behind him, the door opened and he turned to see a flour-dusted Hannah stepping onto the porch.

“Has the first runner come yet, William?”

“Not yet, Hannah. But the monkeys are in full chorus, so he should arrive any minute.”

“Good. I don’t want to miss greeting our new brothers.” Hannah glanced down at the porch floor, a tight crease popped up between her brows and her Dutch cleanliness came out in full force. “Oh, dear. Company arriving and I haven’t swept out here since morning.”

William’s chuckle escaped despite his efforts to suppress his amusement. Hannah’s fight against common household dirt was legendary in the African bush. She would be scandalized if a guest caught her unawares. “The porch is fine. The only thing you might want to do is brush the flour off yourself.”

Hannah’s hands went straight to her apron to remedy the problem. “Fine for you maybe, but one of our guests is a doctor. He’s bound to have high standards. We don’t want to run off the first doctor the Board has ever sent us.”

She removed her apron and gave her voluminous blue skirts a good shake. Her hands nervously smoothed her graying hair in anticipation of company.

“You look fine, Hannah. I’m sure once they get a whiff of your fresh-baked bread and realize they’re in time for dinner, it will be a distraction from all else.” William pointed to the birds rising and calling out in frightened flight.

“Dinner is only a simple affair. I didn’t think they’d arrive so soon or I’d have done more.”