by Areli
We were walking through the streets one afternoon, saying hello to everybody. Jen, PD and I saw a women who was sitting on the ground. She was one of many others in the street, but our hearts immediately went out to her.
We said hello to her, but of course she didn’t know English (or Spanish! haha). With some little phrases that we knew in her language, we asked for her name.
“Mary,” she answered.
“Wow finally! A name that I can say and remember!” I thought.
We were having a hard time communicating with her, so we decided to return later.
“Why don’t we buy some food to share with the people that we meet?” I suggested.
The others agreed with me, so we bought some sweets and snacks and cold drinks at a small streetside shop.
We left the store and came back to the same place where Mary was.
This time she was with 2 little boys. When she saw us a big smile spread across her face.
We sat down with her and shared the things that we bought. Many more people gathered around, and we shared with them too.
By now, it was a little easier to communicate with Mary. She told us that the boys were her sons. Their names were Joshua, who was 5 years old, and Moses, 4 years old.
Because we didn’t speak he same language we didn’t know how to start praying for her, so PD decided to look for Nirmal, our translator. Instead, he found two students who spoke English!
We asked Mary how we could pray for her.
What she answered touched my heart.
“I have a problem with my legs,” she said. “I can’t walk.”
Immediately I remember my accident 3 year ago. I remembered how God restored my legs. I felt that I should pray for her. I knew that God wanted to heal her just as He had healed me.
We finished praying and the students left, but I felt that she should know the story of my accident and the power of God. This time, Nirmal was close by and he came and translated for us.
As I shared my testimony, her eyes shone and she smiled.
“I am also a Christian,” she said. “And I trust in God. I know that He will heal me. I have no doubt about that.”
Her words made me realize how big her faith was. It is not common to find a Christian in the streets of India. Meeting Mary made me realize the power of God and the hard work of missionaries who are bringing the Gospel to this nation.
I am praying for more people who are like Mary–who know and trust God. And I’m still praying that God will heal her.