I’ve never read the book of Ester before but when my morning reading time was interrupted by a 10 year old girl whose family was hosting us in her countryside yurt/ger, I took a pause to introduce the Bible to someone new.
She waltzed into our cabin carrying fresh bread and cream and looked around the room to see a majority of us reading this mysterious book. I told her we were reading the Bible! She seemed interested and confused all in one so I asked if she wanted to read with me. She had taken quite a liking in me in the last couple days so she probably would’ve agreed to doing anything I was occupied with but today was her lucky day! So we settled on reading the book of Ester (it’s semi-short, a good story, and easy to follow).
She started reading the first chapter and we went back and forth trading off reading for a few minutes. First chapter done, second chapter, third, fourth….the more she read the more interest the rest of the room had in reading along with her. So all 8 of us sat there, turning through the book of Ester together, she ended up taking over reading aloud for all of us and soon we found ourselves finishing all 10 chapters. We were all wrapped up in the valiant story of Ester and her brave rescue of the Jewish nation. When we finished she had an awestruck countenance on her face and sat with the Bible in her lap, letting the story sink in. Kelly (one of my teammates) then walked over and explained how she felt like she needed to give her Bible away to her. She shared about the footnotes on the bottom of the pages, the maps and character summaries sprinkled throughout, the layout of the old and new testament. The young girl was so shocked and excited and thankful and giddy. She told us that Bibles are a rare find in Mongolia and that she had never seen one before let alone had one of her own. Kelly pulled out all of the notes and pictures she had placed within the pages of the Bible throughout the last year and handed over this well worn gem. We encouraged her to continue reading more on her own and we shared some of our favorite verses with her.
She had previously told me about some witchcraft her family had partaken in to help her sister who was attacked by evil spirits, so I shared with her the armor of God in Ephesians. Then, Landry (one of my teammates) explained the Psalms, how they are shorter chapters and good when you are looking for someone to relate to in difficult times. She pointed her to one of her favorites, Psalms 23. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Because I couldn’t remember this young girl’s name, let alone pronounce it correctly, I half jokingly nicknamed her Queen Ester after the first book she ever read in the Bible. I also made a bookmark to hide in her Bible so that she would have something like us in the pages of her new book. On the front I painted Ester and on the back I wrote out Psalms 23 and placed it in the pages of the book of Ester.
Queen Ester and I spent a lot of time together that weekend. One evening I was cutting veggies when she walked in and asked if she could help, she said her mom never let her cut with her because she might slice her finger. So I said let’s pray and ask God to protect your fingers. I handed the knife over to her and finished the prayer saying in Jesus name we pray, Amen. Another afternoon we had planted a little onion root in the garden together and she was telling me that the chickens had started pecking at the onion and almost killed it. So I said well, let’s pray for God to protect our onion. I went on to explain that sometimes when something is young and new, you’re more susceptible to being harmed when little things come and peck at you just like the chickens did to our onion. So we have to be very aware and make sure to put on our armor so we can defend ourselves from the pecking things around us. I told her that this might be like her someday so she should make she to be armed and remember the onion.
It was an amazing adventurous weekend. We hand made dumplings, we rode horses, we milked a cow, we worshipped in the yurt/ger, we learned that they use cow patties as fuel for their fires, we planted trees, we hiked and ate great food. It made for a special weekend.
The last day on our drive home I rode with Queen Ester, she hung her head out the window as we drove through the hilly back roads, talking and asked us to join her in praying that God would protect her from any bugs flying into her mouth. Then she began sharing with us how lonely and sad she felt at school without friends or people who understood her. We shared about how Jesus always understands her and how she can find people in the Bible who she can relate to no matter what situation she is in. We encouraged her to read the Bible on her own and she quickly replied, “Of course I will read my Bible! I was reading last night and praying to Jesus all night. ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…’” She recited the entirety of Psalms 23!!!!
Wait whattt!!!! She had not only just prayed on her own for no bugs to get into her mouth, and not only just told us how she had been praying and reading on her own the night before, but ALSO had memorized the entirety of Psalms 23!!!!
I looked at her with my mouth hanging open and I said Queen Ester you know there’s a bible verse that says, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead then you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified and with your mouth you confess and are saved.” And then I said,” I think this is what you should do.” She said, “Of course, I believe this.”
So we prayed together, inviting the Holy Spirit into Queen Ester’s heart and then celebrated together as we pulled up to our apartment.
The irony behind all this is that I didn’t fully realize that the name Queen Ester was gonna stick to this girl like it has but I truly believe God will use her life to influence many people just like He did with (the) Queen Ester. And some day in Heaven little Queen Ester will get to encounter the real Queen Ester.
On top of all that happened that weekend, I should mention that Queen Ester’s older sister (14 yrs old) also accepted Jesus! Gina Marie ended up giving her Bible to her so now two Bibles are in the hands of these young Mongolian sisters. Praise God on for all of this! He has truly been pursing this family and His precious daughters…just like He is pursuing you!
I had an amazing time in Mongolia (minus the snow) and now have just 16 days left on the race! Looking forward to more growth these couple weeks and seeing what else God will do!
