January 14th, 2017
Waking up this morning, I had no idea the life change that was going to happen in the next 12 hours. God took 12 of His willing kids and brought them to hundreds of His lost kids in the middle of nowhere India.
We started off the day simply handing out tracks to a remote village. Our ministry host sat us down and shared that we were the first to step into this village and share the good news with them. So first, these people have never heard that they have one God who loves them unconditionally. Second, they have never seen a white person. Also, our host shared that these people are Hindu and are at the bottom of their class system.. which is the “untouchables”. They literally cannot interact with anyone out of their class system because they are seen as unworthy and unclean. As we were walking into the village I encouraged my team with something God was sharing with me.
In Romans 8, Paul shares with us that we are no longer in bondage to fear.. fear of being rejected by these people, fear of not being safe, fear of using our voice to proclaim who our God is. None of this is relevant because we have been adopted into the family of freedom.. we are now led by the spirt of God that lives inside of us, the same flippen spirt that raised Jesus from the dead!! With the gift of the Holy Spirit we are changing the atmosphere with every step that we take into this village. We are co-heirs of Christ and are meant to do even greater things than He did. So let’s do just that.
Now, we were all hyped up to drop some straight truth Into this village, but God showed me so much more through these people than I could ever expect.
The first little shack we stopped at, their was a young girl whose leg was bent inward due to a previous accident and lack of medical care… our host translated why we were there and that we wanted to pray for her and their family. The father of the house said he can’t pray because he hasn’t washed up yet and has dirty clothes on. We shared that our loving father comes off His throne in Heaven and enters our mess, it doesn’t matter if we are dirty or not. The family was in awe that they could just come as they are. We prayed bold prayers, handed them the story of Jesus, and went to the next house. On the way, Nathaniel, our host, stopped us and pointed to a big rock and said, “this is one of their Gods that they worship everyday” it wasn’t until that moment that I truly understood how lost and broken the Hindu religion is.
Now the account that I am about to share with you changed my life forever, and can change yours too.
I was in the middle of praying for a couple of the Hindu women as a young girl, a little younger then my sister, Tessa, interrupted me. She brought me to her grandmother and they pointed to her mouth and neck and grabbed my hand to pray. I didn’t understand and asked if she need food.. that’s when they waved Nathaniel over and he told me that the young girl, Busha, is mute. She was born without the ability to speak. Then all of a sudden Busha’s grandmother started hitting her right in front of me.. she wanted Busha to show me the sounds that she is limited to. Busha, very timidly, made a couple of noises but physically could not speak. Immediately I felt this heavy weight come over my whole body. I looked into Busha’s big brown eyes and felt her pain like I have never felt pain before. Not only is this girl an “untouchable” but she is also crippled and can’t even speak. In the eyes of her family and village, she might as well be dirt and that’s how she was treated. She did not need a voice to communicate to me how much she was hurting and needed to be set free. SO I just started praying.. I was weak and this situation was so much bigger than me and how “well” my flesh could pray.
Romans 8:26-27 “the spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And her who knows our hearts knows the mind of the spirit, because the spirit interceded for the saints in our accordance with Gods will”.
So that’s exactly what happened.. the Holy Spirit took over and I was just being the physical hands and feet of God’s plan.
Once I finished praying I told Busha to repeat after me…
“My name is Busha”
she then repeated,
“My name is Busha”
and then I said..
“And Jesus gave me a voice”
She then she proclaimed,
“And Jesus gave me a voice”
With tears in both of our eyes we embraced each other and rejoiced in thankfulness together. She laughed as we played and she kept repeating after me to practice her new found voice.
Leaving the village I no longer saw a broken and unclean people… I had hope.
Romans 8:24 for in this hope, we were saved, but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?”
God showed me a village full of His children and He sees them just like he saw Busha. They see themselves as useless and dirty.. but our Father in Heaven sees them as His masterpieces. He has a plan for them, you and me. He will provide.
If you scroll up…you will see that I am short $2,000 and I have two days to raise it. I’m not going to lie, I feel pretty discouraged about it and don’t have much hope. I told God that and he brought me back to this day.. January 14th, 2017… the day that He provided in such a miraculous way. He said, “Chloe, share that story and I will be glorified… if I can give Busha a voice, I will provide for you”. So here we are… im sharing this story with you, and whether or not you feel called to give… I don’t want you leaving this blog the same person you were when you clicked on the link.
Your voice is a GIFT. Not everyone has one. You can use this gift to speak life of death into people’s life.. no in between. You can use this gift to sing and praise God for all that He has given you in this life. You can use this gift to take the hands of the broken and lead them into the light. Your voice is powerful and it matters.
Also I want you to leave this blog knowing that our God is alive right now… He is constantly working in your life and mine. He wants to give you a full and beautiful life. If He created this world.. I’m pretty sure He knows the best way to live it. Ask yourself if you are just surviving day to day… or if you are living in the depths of peace, joy, and constant growth that God has planned for you.
