If you don't know the first part of Shudaice's story, you can read it here
One day, I was holding Shudaice in my arms at church, and I knew it was going to break my heart to leave him. I just love this little boy. God placed him and his family so heavily on my heart. I would spend all of my “wait time” (we had lots of it this month) at their house. Every day, Daice would come running out to greet me, and after that the two of us were two peas in a pod. His mom Aisha told me that I was her best friend.
The relationships I formed with them were so simple. I couldn’t communicate very much with Daice, as he knew little English, but I would let him color in my journal or he would sit in my lap and play “double double” (a hand-clapping game). I would just sit on Aisha’s porch while she did laundry or cooked dinner and spend time with her.
As I have shared, Aisha is Muslim. I never argued with her or bashed her beliefs, but this month we learned not to be afraid to speak the truth in love. She knew I was a Christian and I told her what I believed.
Aisha knows all about Jesus; all of her friends are Christians and she lives just outside of the church. She told me she wanted to become a Christian, she seemed so ready to change, but it was hard for her because her husband and her entire family are all Muslim. She is expected to pray to Allah and go to Mosque. I told her that if she became a Christian, she did not have to go to church, she could still go to the mosque, but pray to Jesus. That was a huge moment for me, to realize that the God I believe in is so big and that following Him is not about what we do or don’t do, it’s all about our hearts. In that one moment, it was as though all these seemingly random little pieces of my life came together.
I told Aisha to ask God to show himself to her. And then I left. I did not know it would be the last time I would saw them. I got sick with typhoid (I’m okay now!), and had to stay home from church. I didn’t get to say goodbye to her or to Daice. At first, this crushed me. I felt discouraged, like all I had done was in vain. (After 8 months, this short-term stuff is getting exhausting!) I wondered if Daice will even remember me.
I may never know if Aisha accepted Jesus into her heart. But that morning, Daice chose to go to church as he had done before I came and as I hope he will continue to do. You see, it’s not about me. It never was. To be honest, I wanted to have a crazy story to tell you of Jesus appearing to Aisha and her getting saved. But maybe it’s better this way. God is showing me that the best thing I can do for her and Daice is just to pray.
In the DR, our pastor told Yakaity that we had come there just for her. I believe that God sent me to Uganda for Aisha and Shudaice. Daice is 3 years old and choosing Jesus, even in the face of persecution. I truly believe that God will use this little boy to change his entire family. And I am honored that I got to be a small part of that.
