“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4
God’s plan is perfect. I have been told that my entire life. This past month has been a test in whether or not I truly believe it.
My teammates, Kate and Katie were out jogging one morning when they became lost. I love how God blesses our bad sense of direction. They ended up meeting a Nepalese woman named Pramila, who happened to be close in age to us. She opened up to them about her sister being very sick. As a team we prayed for her and felt the prompting from the Lord to befriend this woman. We met her for ice cream and she invited us to the home she was staying at with her sister. Pramila and her sister, Urmila were Hindu and had many different witch doctors and Reiki healers coming to attempt to heal Urmila. As we were sitting in her apartment, drinking lemon tea, I knew the Lord was telling me to open my mouth, so I just laid the Gospel out to her. I was sharing with her about my relationship with Jesus and how I love to talk with Jesus and that I tell him anything. Pramila stopped me, mid-sentence, and said, “wait, you can talk to him? I can’t talk to my god.” My teammates and I were able to use this opportunity to pour love into Pramila so that she could see the one true God.
Not long after we shared the gospel with Pramila, we received a text message from her, asking us to come and pray to “your Lord Jesus” for her sister. A Hindu woman was actually asking us to pray to our Lord Jesus. We were told that she had been sick with bronchitis for 7 months. As we entered Urmila’s bedroom, we realized the gravity of the situation. Urmila was skin and bones, in pain, and unable to speak or get out of bed. She was 24 years old and she was dying. We knelt around her in prayer and laid our hands upon her. As we prayed, we felt the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room. Our hands were tingling and it felt as though someone was breathing on our faces. It was such a moment of power, as we knew that for the first time, these two women were experiencing the Spirit of the Lord. We finished praying, and Pramila thanked us, tears in her eyes.
We were able to visit Pramila again and bring her a Bible and a salvation tract. A week later, Pramila came to church with us. The entire church lifted Pramila and Urmila before the Lord in prayer. Pramila showed so much interest in knowing Jesus. She was just so ready.
While we were away, hiking through the villages, Urmila gave up. She stopped eating or taking her meds. Pramila told us that she herself wanted very much to know Jesus, but she just did not know how to believe in only one God, when she was taught to believe in many gods. She said to us, “I may lose my sister, but I will always have you guys.” Urmila died while we were traveling to Kenya. At last we knew, Urmila had not come to know the Lord.
The questions came. We could see God leading us to befriend Pramila. We could see God as we shared the gospel and prayed for Urmila. We could not see God in this. We knew that God does not desire for anyone to perish, so how could he allow Urmila to die without knowing him, when we had prayed so strongly for healing? Where was God in this?
The truth is, I can’t answer that. Maybe healing didn’t come to Urmila because with having so many people trying to provide healing, it would become more of a hindrance. Also, who’s to say Urmila did not come to know the Lord. She couldn’t speak to us, but the presence of the Lord was very real the day we prayed over her. Only God knows the answer to that. The truth is, we were called there to comfort. Isn’t that what the Lord requires of us? Comfort the dying. Comfort the brokenhearted. In return, God will comfort us. God has put a renewed faith in me that Pramila will come to know Jesus in time. In our brokenness, God remained faithful. We acted in obedience, and even though we did not see the fruit we hoped for, we learned something important in our grief. God never gives up. We will continue to love others and spread the gospel. We will walk in victory and not accept defeat. God will crush the enemy under our feet. When we feel that all is lost, only one thing remains.
“Let this be your call: Comfort a sad woman. Comfort a mourning child. Comfort a dying man. Comfort.” -Heidi Baker
