“I have this book but I don’t understand what it says,” she says.
I pick up the book and read the cover: Daily Devotionals.
“Is it the English you don’t understand?” I ask.
“No. It’s everything else.“
Two days later I find myself in a classroom with Seilang and Narak, two teachers who know nothing about about God, with the hopes of starting a Bible study with them.
I read one of the devotionals out loud and paraphrase it.”Who is this about?” I ask. They hesitantly reply, “about God?” I say yes and ask if they know who God is. Seilang says, “Not really“.
I ask her, “Do you know who created you, and me, and her?” She shakes her head.
“When you look at the trees and the mountains, do you ever wonder who created those?” She says, “No, I never think about that.“
We don’t get very far that day.
That night I lie on my floor-mat feeling a bit defeated, thinking I’m not going to get anywhere with these girls.
Then God takes over and let’s me know He’s the one doing the work. He assures me this is not a seed I will reap. It’s His seed and He’ll see it through.
He also assures me next time Seilang looks at a tree or at a mountain, my question will be the first thing she thinks about.
The next day I say, “You are in a bad situation. You think there’s no way out. You feel lost and you think this situation cannot be changed. But then it magically changes, it goes from bad to good. What saved you? Who changed your situation?“
“Luck,”Narak says. Seilang shrugs.
I share with them about faith. I share with them about His perfect and mysterious plans. I share with them about the way He watches over them and the way He so deeply cares for them. That nothing is by chance. That nothing is by luck.
Laying on my floor-mat that night, I am once again assured next time Seilang’s and Narak’s situation are transformed from bad to good, they will be thinking twice before giving “luck” any credit.
On Monday I ask Narak what she thinks happens when we die? She says, “the people who do good things go to heaven and the people who do bad things go to hell“. I tell her if that was really the case, then heaven would be empty. We laugh.
She asks me what I think happens.
I share about God’s love. And I confess to being a bad person and doing bad things but that because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, I am free from ALL the bad. And because I believe, I know and I am just so certain, that I will be going to heaven…bad person and all.
