Slowly opening one lid at a time, the incandescence became brighter, begging to start anew. New voices in song rang throughout the village, filling ears and even stomachs. Getting up, she walked toward familiar laughter of friends. In their native tongue they sang, “Christ Jesus has come to save, hallelujah! He has come to set us free!” She joined them singing joyfully for this One who was praised by strange faces but familiar hearts.
…………………………….
Softly nudged she slowly opens a soar lid. “What’s your name?” he says in the language of this area in India. “Mlechhas”, she whispers throwing her eyes to the ground. “No, not ‘untouchable’, what is your real name?” Tears begin to swell as her lips formed what had nearly been forgotten. He told her why he was there, and at that moment she beamed with assurance saying, “It was 73 years ago that they came and I heard of Him for the first time. Jesus has remained with me since that day they asked who wanted to receive His promises. That song I kept in my heart, and it has reminded me of His promise. Not since, have I heard His name spoken here.”
The man said, “You are made free in Christ’s authority, no longer found dalit (outcaste/untouchable) because you are found in Him.” She received this as Truth. As the midwife of the village, women preferred her over doctors because not one baby died during her deliveries over 65 years of midwifery. She declared to all the women of her village, ‘your babies lived because of the hand of my God’. Before her death, the village came willingly to the feet of Christ in spiritual hunger.
How is it that we hear His name almost everyday and forget? Yet she heard it once and 73 years later was still longing for Him?
