She didn t know exactly what had happened, where her mother was, or how she got in the water. However, she found herself floating in the Indian Ocean clinging to piece wreckage from the plane of which she was just a passenger. She could hear other voices, but it was too dark to see and impossible to find them. The Yemeni Airbus 310 jet had crashed very early Tuesday morning. Bahia Bakari started her ordeal at one o clock in the morning and struggled to hold on for thirteen hours, until she waved to a rescue boat around three that afternoon. Bahia was near exhaustion when the rescuers arrived. She tried to grasp the life ring they tossed to her, but with a broken collarbone and the many hours trying to stay alive she had no strength. Sergeant Said Abdilai realized her condition and jumped into the sea to get her.. By the writing of this article no other passengers have be found, they are presumed lost; including Bahia s mother.
What a hopeless feeling Bahia must have had floating around alone in the darkness, with waves tossing her here and there; calling for help and having no one come to save her. Those hours must have seemed like days, or perhaps even lifetimes. But then to see it in the distance, to hear the low purr of a motor, how her heart must have lifted even though her body was too weak. Can you imagine the feel of Sergeant Abdilai s arms around her   saved! Safe at last! Rescued from certain death.
Can we relate even in a small way to her ordeal and her salvation? You can if you have felt the saving power of Jesus. If you have felt His powerful embrace of your soul as He has pulled you from the darkness and snatched you from the sea of sin you were drowning; then maybe you can know how she felt as she was wrapped in a blanket aboard the rescue boat. If you cannot image then perhaps you are a drift right now. Your Rescuer is in sight, reaching down for you   if you want to be saved grab on!