Been a little MIA on the blog recently! Lots has been going on- which I’ll catch you
up on in my next newsletter! For now, here’s
a little story from today.
Got a call last night from my best friend, H. She is from my village, but is currently
studying in a village that is about an hour away. She boards at the school where she studies,
and lives in a dorm with about 150 other girls around her age. She is usually so energetic and full of joy,
but last night when she called, she sounded down. When we started talking, she started to cry
as she told me about another girl at school who had hit her and had taken her
bowls and busted them on the ground. (These
bowls are for her food- the students are given beans and rice one time a day to
last them for lunch and dinner). She asked if I would come pick her up because
she needed to get some new bowls from her grandma’s house, and she needed to
get away for a few days. As I drove to
pick her up this morning, I prayed that God would give me wisdom and words to
love and encourage her, as well as an open door to talk about Him. When she got in the car and we began to drive
home, she started crying again. She was
really upset about what had happened, and wanted to talk about it. Her side of the story was that the girl had
borrowed her bowls without asking several days in a row, and returned them
dirty next to her bed, which was attracting bugs. H said she told the girl not to use her bowls
anymore because she hadn’t been returning them the way she found them. That’s when the girl got upset and hit H,
then took her bowls and threw them on the ground. (Losing bowls may not seem to be a huge deal,
but she only has a few pieces of clothing, those two bowls, and very little
money.)
God was faithful and gave me words to encourage her. As we drove, we held hands (which is normal
here- although it’s still a little weird for me to get used to), and talked and
cried. During Ramadan last month, H
started studying the Injil with me. I
asked her in the car if she had her Injil, and she did. I asked her to read Matthew 18:21-35 out loud
to me. As she read, she stopped several
times to talk about forgiveness. I had a
chance to explain to her the depth of our sin and the forgiveness God has given
us through His Son, Jesus, and His death on the cross. We talked about the punishment we deserve for
our sin, and that nothing we can do can ever be good enough to EARN
forgiveness. We talked about us not
deserving forgiveness, but by His grace, He forgives. We talked about forgiving others who have
wronged us, even if we don’t think they deserve it. She told me she had forgiven the girl. She may not fully understand the forgiveness
that is waiting for her yet, but she is learning to put into practice the
things she is reading in the Injil from God.
Believing and obeying God is a really good start!
After she read about forgiveness, and we talked about it,
she kept reading from Matthew for the next 45 minutes until we arrived
home. She kept stopping and telling me
what she was reading in her own words.
God’s Word is addicting, I agree.
Pray that the Spirit would teach her as she continues to read, and that
the Spirit would convict her of her sin and show her her need for His
forgiveness through Jesus.
