About a week ago, my team and I visited Unakoti, the most famous site in Northeast India. In addition to being quite famous, it happens to be a place of Hindu shrines, temples, and images of their gods carved into rocks, both small scale and large.
On the way there, the Lord was reminding me that one of the reasons He sent me to India was to use my writing to tell the stories of the people. Something specific that I couldn’t stop thinking about in that moment was women who have been the victims of acid attacks. For those who don’t know what that is, it is when a person throws acid or another corrosive substance on a person, majority of the time being women who have denied a marriage proposal or sexual advance. My heart breaks for women who are victims of such atrocious acts, and telling their stories is something I would love to do.
Once we got to Unakoti and I was looking at the huge rock carvings that surrounded me and climbing copious amounts of stairs, my thoughts from the car ride slowly slipped away. But those thoughts all came crashing back when I reached the top of Unakoti.
I was looking around, observing the various “gods” that were carved into the rocks, when I saw a woman crouching by a shrine. As I looked at her, I felt my heart drop when I realized that both her face and neck were covered entirely in burn scars. That’s when I heard that all too familiar voice:
Speak to her.
I began pacing around, my mind racing as I tried to figure out what I was meant to do. Considering she was right next to a man who appeared to be her husband, was crouching at the shrine, and most likely didn’t speak English, I was totally stumped. I told my teammate what was going on, hoping for some wisdom, and she simply prayed, asking God that if I was meant to speak to her, she would stand up and walk towards us.
My teammate and I continued talking, and not even five minutes later, I watched as she stood up and walked towards us, stopping about three feet away. My heart raced as I realized that there was no way to deny that God wanted me to speak to her.
Despite the fact that I was terrified to do so, I found someone to translate for me and initiated a conversation. Once we began to talk, I found out that she understood all that I was saying, but simply couldn’t speak in English back to me. I was nervous at the start of the conversation, but soon felt increasingly more comfortable. I asked her about herself, what brought her to Unakoti, and about what happened to her to cause the scars on her face. She happily answered every question, exuding kindness and openness.
Her name is Pinky, and she is 23 years old. When she was young, she fell into a fire, causing the burns on her face and neck. 8 years prior, she heard a voice telling her to go to where we were standing, and she has remained there ever since.
As she spoke, two things were floating around in my mind. The first was how interesting it was that while she was not the victim of an acid attack, the Lord had put that on my heart in the car so that I would be drawn to speak to her. The second was wondering why that voice told her to travel there, and whose voice it was. It was then that the Lord said something to me that quite honestly blew me away:
Maybe I sent her here to meet you.
Hearing those words, I could hardly believe them. Why would God send this woman somewhere for 8 years just to meet me? Could anything I did in that moment really warrant such a thing? I felt amazed as I realized that both my life and the lives of those around me truly are perfectly planned by God.
As we continued our conversation, Pinky began explaining to me that the shrine she and her husband tended to – the one we were standing at in that moment – was for what Hindu’s believe to be their most powerful god. Just as she said that, I heard His voice one last time:
Pray for her.
Being someone who highly values respect, this shook me a bit. I couldn’t tell if it would be disrespectful to pray for this woman in her place of worship, and I didn’t want to offend her. With the help of my teammate pushing me out of my comfort zone and into boldness, I timidly asked if I could pray for her. I didn’t expect it, but she happily obliged.
I took her hands in mine and began to pray, first thanking the Lord for the opportunity to meet my new friend Pinky, and then thanking Him that He is a God who knows and cares deeply for every person on this planet.
To my surprise, I heard Pinky saying words that I never expected:
“Yes, thank you. Yes, thank you, thank you!”
We were standing at the shrine for the Hindu’s most powerful god, and I was standing with a woman as we both thanked the one and only God for His goodness. I can’t even explain how deeply I felt the power of the Holy Spirit moving in that moment.
We walked away after saying goodbye to Pinky, and as I looked at her one last time, she was beaming and telling us that we were good and kind. I waved to her and continued on, completely dumbfounded by what had just happened.
God has used me to show a Hindu woman on the top of a mountain, surrounded by false gods, the incredible love of Christ – even though I was terrified to do it.
That day reminded me that we have a powerful, loving God who cares deeply for every single person who walks this earth, and one who will do all that He can to bring them into His open, loving arms. That day also reminded me that I need to listen when I hear God’s voice and feel Him nudging me to do something, no matter how scared I am to do it.
He is a God whose plans are perfect and whose ways are righteous, so why wouldn’t we want to step into what He has for us and take part in His beautiful plan?
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11
My beautiful new friend! Photo by the talented Torrey Dawson
