Nanquat

There is a little old lady named Nanquat who was arrested and brought to the prison about 4 months ago. She was arrested for kidnapping a baby. She was never able to have children of her own and when her husband died, she realized she would never have a baby so she kidnapped a baby and brought it home to her village. The village knew it was not her baby so they turned her in to the police who arrested her and got the baby back to its rightful mother. The village told Nanquat she had shamed them by her actions and should never return.When I met her in the prison, she seemed remorseful and sad. Not a single person visited her in the prison. She was convicted and sentenced to 4 months. I could have paid her bail and helped her get out faster, but I didn’t feel right doing that. If she would have kidnapped another baby, I would have felt responsible. If I had my half way house open already, she would have been a good candidate for the home.Every week in my bible study, I ask the women if they have prayer requests. Nanquat only had praises. She continually praised God for us coming and sharing the Word of God with her. Last week she had the same praised, but also shared with us about the dream she had. She said Christ came to her in a dream and gave her a song to sing. She then sang the song for us in Hausa. The song went, “I will never make your repent, but judgement day is real, judgement day is real.”I have seen a real change in Nanquat and a real desire to know more about God. This Friday I got a call from one of the guards that she was released form prison. I rushed up there to find her sitting on the ground crying. She was so scared to be released. She had no money to get to her family and no idea what to do next. Nanquat does not speak any english, so we decided it was best for her to stay the night with a Nigerian. One of the guards from the prison kept her as her own house for the night.The next morning, we came early and picked her up to take her to the car park so that she could catch a bus to her parents village. I filled a bag up with snacks for the trip, we gave her a cell phone with a little credit on it and I gave her a little purse with enough money to pay her transport home and enough to pay her transport back in case she found out that she was not welcome in her parents village. We also let her dig through a box of donated glassed until she found a pair that helped her see better. She was so thankful that she could then see to read her bible.Nanquat fell to the ground crying because she was so overcome with gratitude. I am amazed how such a small gesture of kindness can make such a huge difference in the life of someone. Every few hours after she left, I got a phone call from her thanking me for all I did. Then I got phone calls from everyone one of her relatives who just wanted to “great” me on the phone!! Today was a good day!