Eyes are beautiful. They hold life. They can tell an elaborate story. Eyes can speak to what is down deep in ones soul. They can speak of the joys they have once encountered. They can speak of the beauty that surrounds them.
Sadly this is not one of those times.
These eyes spoke of pain. These eyes have seen disaster and had to walk through it. These eyes spoke of loss. These eyes were clinging to one last bit of hope. This women had to say nothing and I wanted to get on my knees and cry out for her. Her eyes looked up at me and begged me to help her. She pleaded for me to do anything. Yet all I could do was hold her hands and pray.
There was four of us, Kit, Noah, Fred our translator and myself, walking through the small villages that surround our Church, doing door to door ministry. We came upon a house that we were at just last week. We said hello to the six adults and to the seven children that were there. We asked if they would attend our church service this coming week which they happily said yes too. We prayed and were on our way out the gate.
In traditional Rwandan culture it’s respectful to shake everyone’s hands while saying hello and goodbye. While everyone was saying goodbye and heading toward the gate I noticed an older women sitting there looking at me. I walked over to her and she grabbed onto my hand for dear life and, she looked up at me, and I saw it. I saw the pain and agony she was in. Her eyes were deep with life, yet had no joy. Through our translator she told me her whole body hurt, her joints hurt which made it merely impossible for her to walk. She sat there on that ledge every day watching the whole world move on without her. Her joy was lost because she could no longer do the things she loved.
So before we parted ways I prayed. I don’t exactly remember what I prayed for, but I remember I prayed for healing, for the pain to be gone and for joy to reenter her life. I honestly don’t know if any of these things happened. I just know that God put her on my heart when I woke up this morning and I know He is working in her life. There was this sense of joy when I asked God about her this morning. That somewhere out there she found some sort of joy.
