I have germ issues. It’s no secret. I got really sick a few summers ago and it turned me into a little bit of a germaphobe. I’d like to think I’ve come pretty far with it on the Race. Sharing drinks with teammates no longer skives me out and we don’t think twice about sharing spoons or forks with each other. When it comes to children on the street, its a different story. I tried. I really did pray, ‘Jesus, show me the children as you see them.’ And yet I’d look at the children and what stood out to me was the dirt covering their faces. The green and brown unidentifiable stuff all over their faces. The clothes that looked like they’d never seen water, let alone be washed. And if one such child went to play with my hair or grab my hand, I’d cringe big time. “Ugh, the germs on the hands; hands that never get washed and get used for everything,” were my thoughts. I know, I know. I’m a missionary on a trip to love the world like Jesus does. Jesus needed to move in my heart, big time. One day during door to door evangelism, Clint & I met a girl named Christian who is probably 8 years old. Her tattered shirt suggested once upon a time it was white, her jean skirt limply hung off her body, and she had no shoes. She was covered head to toe with marble sized sores, all of which were oozing and infected. I’m almost ashamed to admit this, but when we prayed for her I prayed from a distance. I didn’t want to touch her: “what if I catch what she has?!!” We prayed for God to heal her and continued down the street. Christian followed us from house to house all morning, all the while holding my hand. 2 days later Christian found us at the open air preaching. Half the sore were gone. Half of her face was completely cleared, and all the other sores were dried up. I was excited, waved to her, and prayed with her, though not a real loving interaction. God spoke to me about fasting for a variety of reasons this month. I fasted longer than ever before, and God worked in huge ways. The last day of my fast we were at the same open air preaching. The only way I can explain it is that Jesus took over. I looked at the 100+ children swarming us and loved them to the point that my heart wanted to burst. I saw their beautiful smiles. I knew there was dirt on their body and clothes, and yet I didn’t see it anymore. Then I spotted Christian. The beautiful girl that now had only a quarter of the sores on her body. Jesus was healing her precious body. Her sores were physically gone with no scars on her body. It happened before my body could stop itself. I scooped her up in my arms and spun around and around with her. I wish I could play the memory in my head for you in person. She threw her head back and the biggest, brightest, most beautiful smile sparkled across her face and the most beautiful, pure, joyous laughter exploded out of that little body. How could I almost miss this I put her down and 2 minutes later picked her up in my arms again and the 2 of us spun around, smiling & laughing. How could I almost miss the chance to see that smile, to hear that laughter…. because of some dirt? I was convicted with the thought, ‘if Jesus won’t pick her up and play with her, then who will show her love?’ Who is Jesus showing you to love?
