in the valley of the shadow of death…

for the lost and unsaved
we’re crying for them come back home,
we’re crying for them, come back home…
all you children will stretch out their hands
and pick up the crippled man
Father, we will lead them home

Her name is Leshmi, and she lives in the valley of the shadow of death.

Death hangs over her frail body. With a protruding stomach, wasted away
limbs, and dark eyes set deep within cheekbones that are too thin and
taut, her disease is evident. Stage III cervical cancer is laying claim
to her body, cell by cell. She coughs weakly, her eyes rolling around
in her head, searching for her husband’s comforting face and hand as he
gently strokes her hair or leg.

His name is Vnglesh, and he too lives in the valley of the shadow of death.

Broken-hearted he brings us to his small home, an 8×10 room that is
their sitting room, kitchen, and bedroom, all in one. It is just one
typical house in one of Delhi’s leper colonies. His leprosy is evident
in the bandages wrapped around his feet, and their ashy skin. Other
than those signs, one would almost guess he is healthy. He sits on the
bed next to his wife, Leshmi, speaking to her, stroking her hair and
her skin, wishing to impart some form of comfort.

She moans gently and clutches at her lower stomach. She’s curled up on
her bed, and though she tries to make the effort to sit when we enter,
we motion for her to stay reclined. Vnglesh brought us here, requesting
that we pray for Leshmi. He sits on the bed next to his dying wife,
waiting here in the valley of the shadow of death. But he looks into
our faces, seeking rays of hopeful light. Will these foreigners help
her?–he must be wondering.

He can’t stop the tears from coming as he tells us about her condition.
They have very little money for hospital trips or treatment. “I have
four daughters,” he says. “If there is no mother at home for the
daughters, what will become of them?”

All she eats anymore is coconut water. They have no money for pain
medications. As Leshmi groans softly, clutching at her stomach, the
three of us look on, helpless. Julia sits on the bed, softly caressing
Leshmi’s back turned away from her. I sit on the bed corner or stand,
able to look into Vnglesh’s eyes full of hurt, Leshmi’s eyes deperate
for relief from the pain. Eric squats on the floor, watching the scene
carefully. Outside the open door, children play their way by, and older
lepers hobble by on knobby feet with stubs for fingers and hands. One
crawls by crab-like, hoisting his body up on his arms, moving useless
legs forward down the concrete alley bit by bit.

Vnglesh breaks down before our very eyes, sobbing and wiping his eyes with his clothing.

Truly, here is a man at the end of everything he knows and has lived
for. What will he do without his wife? How will he raise his children?
He is an outcast from society because of his disease. That translates
to his children also being outcasts with very little hope for more than
mere survival. And those odds won’t be helped by being orphaned.

I don’t have the heart to tell them that even in America, people
usually die of stage III cervical cancer. Even rich people die. Money
can’t save them. What can it do? What can WE do? Perhaps buy her some
coconuts for their precious water, and perhaps some pain medications to
ease her passing. But in our hearts we know: she is too far gone. There
is little hope left for her.

Little hope left for her in this world, anyways.

As we sit with Leshmi and Vnglesh in the valley of the shadow of death,
though our hearts break for them, we ask the Lord that He would shine
His LIGHT (jyoti) in that shadow. That His HOPE (asha) and LOVE (prem)
would be known by them, for this life and their eternal lives to come.
Through complications with translation, we were unable to share the
Gospel with Leshmi and Vnglesh. But the aroma of Christ will be
visiting that home again.

Pray for Leshmi and Vnglesh, and that the valley of the shadow of death
they live in would be lifted, and that they would come to know the
“Probu ka prem” (God of love). Pray for Leshmi’s pain to ease, and if
the Lord wills it, for miraculous healing for both her and Vnglesh
(from leprosy). Most of all, pray for their salvation.