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Be Not Afraid FoundationsChapter 1FoundationsMy one-day-old sister Marianne died when I wassix. I never even saw her alive, yet she influenced mychildhood as few others did. Her birth and death had adecisive impact on my sisters and me, as well as on myown children years later.It was 1947, and my family lived in the backwoodsof Paraguay, in a small Christian commune that rana primitive hospital. Just before Marianne’s birth,after two days of extremely difficult, life-threateninglabor, my mother’s heart suddenly gave out. Luckily,the staff was able to resuscitate her, but she remainedunconscious. My father pleaded with the doctors toperform a cesarean, but he was warned, “Your wifewill die if we operate. The only way to save her is toabort the baby; otherwise both mother and baby willbe lost.”1