The world collectively hit the pause button 37 years ago on this day, holding their breath and praying for a miracle. It was the day Baby Jessica was rescued.
Jessica McClure was just 18-months old when she gained international attention. “It was about 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 14 that … Jessica … playing with four other toddlers at her Aunt Jamie Moore’s home day- care center in Midland, Texas, somehow slipped into an abandoned well shaft.”1 The 8-inch opening had been covered by a flower pot, although Jessica’s mom, Cissy, said that a large rock covered the hole. When Jamie and Cissy heard the other children screaming, they ran to where the other children were gathered. Jamie promptly called the police and within three minutes, an officer was on scene.
“After dropping about 22 feet into the well, the little girl became stuck. Over the next two-and-a-half days, crews of rescue workers, mining experts and local volunteers labored around the clock to drill a shaft parallel to the one in which McClure was trapped. They then tunneled horizontally through dense rock to connect the two shafts. A microphone was lowered into the well to keep tabs on the toddler, who could be heard crying, humming and singing throughout the ordeal.”2
Rescuers could now reach up and manipulate Jessica to safety. After 58-hours, Baby Jessica emerged with bruises and scratches. The worst of her injuries would develop as gangrene set in to the foot that was above her head throughout the entire ordeal. She lost a toe, her foot needed 15 reconstructive surgeries, and she has no memory of any of it.3 Jessica wouldn’t leave the hospital for a month.
Today, Jessica is alive and well. She is married, has two children, and lives in Midland, Texas. The same cannot be said for others who were involved.
Less than three years later, Jessica’s parents divorced. “Paramedic Robert O’Donnell (August 27, 1957 – April 27, 1995) developed post-traumatic stress disorder after the rescue and later struggled to cope with the abrupt decline in recognition/fame that he had experienced in the immediate aftermath of his heroic act. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”4
Why would all this effort have been put into rescuing one little kid? Why all the expense and manpower? I mean, it’s only one. There were plenty of other children left at the daycare.
Ridiculous questions, aren’t they? We know that the life of one little child is of inestimable value and society will do everything possible to rescue just one. They won’t quit nor allow exhaustion to deter their efforts. Nobody stopped digging until Jessica was safely returned to the surface. They would have continued their efforts even if it was only to retrieve a body.
Jesus gives a parable in Matthew 18:10-14. “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. (11) For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. (12) How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? (13) And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. (14) Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.”
Most churches today are infatuated with numbers. It’s all about the numbers! How many conversions? How many baptisms? How many new members? If something is happening all the time, the church is deemed viable and valuable. The programs are worth the investment because of the many who’ve been saved.
But what if only one has been saved in the last five, ten, fifteen, or twenty years? Was it worth it? The patronizing answer begins with, “Well, yes, but…” There are no “buts” to this. If a church or ministry is propagating the Gospel and preaching truth from the pulpit and classrooms, it is doing its job. JESUS is the One who saves, not us. The prophet Jonah got it right when he declared from the fish’s belly, “Salvation is of the Lord.” (Jonah 2:9)
Sure, we would like to see people saved by the multitudes. We would love to see the church add new members every week. But the obvious results cannot dictate the value of the outreach programs.
Never devalue the value of one. Remember what Jesus said in Luke 15:10. “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”
1https://people.com/archive/cover-story-the-epic-rescue-of-jessica-mcclure-vol-28-no-18/
2https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/baby-jessica-rescued-from-a-well-as-the-world-watches
3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_of_Jessica_McClure
4Ibid.
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