Our most recent travel day held the sweet promise of our first train of the year.
There’s just something so romantic about a train, no matter what it looks like or where it is heading. My days spent on them last year during my time in China secured a deep whimsical love for communing amidst the cars and enjoying the scenery sweep by.
My spirits were high as heaven itself as we arrived to the train station to head to what we thought would be our final destination of the month.
Our ministry time so far in this country has felt different than any other place I’ve been in a way I still can’t quite find the words to describe but I’ve found the good ol’ fear of man creeping back in. I can tell you that it stems from having no cultural or linguistic context here so I’m way outta my comfort zone.
Perfect incubator for growth, right? (:
As we wait out the time before our train arrives, I chat with our Squad Leader Brandon about life. Catching up and enjoying our time resting in the moment. We found ourselves being politely scooted off a bench to let elders sit and are approached by a woman speaking to us and using hand gestures that seem to point to the sky and something about food.
I’m thoroughly confused. Slightly sweaty because I have the biggest desire for her to know I understand her, but actually have no basis of what she is trying to communicate. All eyes are on us, a group of beautiful older women in colorful sarees look on in curiosity and attempt to translate the miming. Unfortunately their translation was still not in English so I find myself throwing panicked glances at my team as I desperately want to understand this woman.
Two strangers nearby decide it is time to intervene, they translate
“she is trying to tell you about her God. She is selling Roti to raise money for their religion!”
I laughed a little.
Here I was back to an old crutch of a thought “can I tell them about God Right now?” and this woman was insistent on letting me know about her god. I admired her reckless abandon and tenacity to keep trying to get me to understand. I desire that fervor and, quite frankly, ballsiness.
I laughed out loud and grinned, finally took a breath to indicate that I understood and could relax. I looked her in the eye, nodded my head and said “Thank you!” And explained we believed in Jesus.
it didn’t register.
So my friends, the ones who translated her desires, showed me the same respect and I heard the explanation of who Jesus was flow as sweet as honey in their beautiful language to this woman and all around. It was as easy as that.
She walks away, back to a group of people dressed in the same color scheme and they wait for the train. I too take my leave to a nearby bench next to a lady in bright purple beaming at me, beckoning me to come take a rest next to her and her two friends. So I sat. We didn’t exchange anything except for the brushing of sides and an occasional smile, observing glance and a giggle. I was just finding a comforting flow of internal prayer as I sat there when I heard Abba tell me,
”open your bible.”
Now. Listen.
I love my bible. I love my times in life where I love to read it. But I’m in a season where I’m more privy to feel and just talk to God than crack that puppy open unless I’m doing a group study. Is that what I SHOULD be doing? Maybe not. But it made this next moment all the sweeter.
I could feel Holy Spirit moving in that moment so I wasn’t about to question or argue. I whipped out my lil Bible and flipped to James. Scanned through some lines. Then I flipped to my fave, Ecclesiastes. During all the previous interaction I notice a set of bashful eyes belonging to a little girl finding mine before ducking behind a mother’s leg.
We had briefly interacted by taking a photo together at some point when all the women showed up around us.
I glance up from my bible occasionally to find those bashful eyes moving closer, wanting to talk to me. I look up for a longer glance and I recognize we are matching: Yellow tops and sky blue bottoms. I motion at our colors, see her mother grin and translate and watch the cutest smile ripple across her face and eyes light up when they met mine again. I return the joy, and instantly I feel Holy Spirit flit around like a little butterfly.
I go back to reading.
People around me are curious about my book. Peering over my shoulder, looking at me read and flip through the pages and pray. Suddenly the mother appears directly in front of me, reaches down into my lap and excitedly asks/simultaneously takes my bible from me and flips to the beginning. She hands the book to the girl and she has her sit scooted up beside me.
A sweet voice, perfect English with the melodic tones of her native tongue addin accent to our words read out:
Genesis 38:18
””What should I give you? ” he asked. She answered, “Your signet ring, your cord, and the staff in your hand.” So he gave them to her and slept with her, and she got pregnant by him. She got up and left, then removed her veil and put her widow’s clothes back on. When Judah sent the young goat by his friend the Adullamite in order to get back the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her. He asked the men of the place, “Where is the cult prostit-“
Finding my heart rate increasing and the sweat flowing once again, I quickly but gently guide her to Proverbs. Meanwhile thinking “of all the passages to randomly to and read aloud. WHEW.
She asks if these words I flipped to were harder and I said yes. She started in Proverbs 1 and nestled up next to me as she kept reading. I was tearing up at the innocence of this interaction and the adoring looks her mother kept steady throughout.
How sweet is God to have created such a tender and fun moment? In the midst of my striving He called me to rest in His presence and His children.
For brevity and extra sweetness here’s what happened next:
– a train arrives
– all the people around me hurry onto it including my new friend
– we say bye with a weirdly heavy heart for such a short time together
– I rush to take a selfie with the family and return to my bench, happy
– I see my teammates sprinting towards me
– They are yelling that the train is ours
– I’m still registering what they said
– I disagree and then am proven wrong. It was our train.
– Jenn was in the bathroom.
– I quickly realize Jenn and I very well may miss this traib
– I’m in too much bliss to care because I’m talking to God
– I realize I am the TL and supposed to make a decision real quick
– I make a decision lol
– my whole team gets on the train without me
– I pray quickly that Jenn makes it
– Jenn makes it
– my seat is totally separate from everyone else by number
– my seat is taken
– I steal a seat with the group
– no one needs it the entire train ride
– the little girl ended up in that train car
– I fall asleep and 3 hours into the trip I’m awoken to a tap On the shoulder from outside The train
– it’s the little girl and her family. They woke me up to part ways and I teared up.
– God is so good. So so good.
THANKS FOR STICKING WITH ME I COULD HAVE SHORTENED IT BUT THATS NOT MY BRAIN TODAY !
Safety Update: my squad is being relocated after our short time in South Asia to none other than Almaty, Kazakhstan!!! Less corona exposure, less closed borders I think (maybe? Check me on this) and better health care (: so we leave Wednesday. Keep praying!
BLESS SOMEONE WITH SOME LOVE TODAY!
