It’s been a while since
we’ve update. No excuses. It’s overwhelming the stories and things we want to
share, so unfortunately we don’t share at all. We have quite a bit of news to
share over the next week, we will be telling you more!
This morning as I was
listening to God…there was a theme. Grace. Please read Seth’s blog below –
it’s a great reminder of grace playing out in real life/time. (Photo by Kristen)
Taken from Seth’s blog. http://www.sethbarnes.com/?filename=praying-for-grace
Grace came to
me unexpectedly today.
We’d been accosted by beggars everywhere we went in Hyderabad.
You want to help the needy ones, but giving to beggars can be complicated.
Anyone who saw “Slumdog Millionaire” understands how it can be a
racket. And so, you pray for discernment and you pray for grace. But your spirit can feel bruised by it all.
Today was a long day and we
were ready for a safe place on the eve of our departure from India. And then,
walking to our last meeting, I heard behind me, “Sir, sir!” I recoiled inside, guard up, seeing a small woman
beckoning me and wondering how to fend her off. “Sir, I have cancer. Mommy, daddy dead. I need to catch
train. Help me.” “Right,” I
thought. There was no grace in me.
But I listened as she shared
more details of her plight. And I asked her to come to where we could talk inside
our building. I promised to help somehow. She agreed to walk with us.
Once inside, I got Raju to
translate so she could speak in Hindi. She was skin and bones. She showed us a
big lump on her neck – an enlarged thyroid. She showed us her deformed arm. She
showed us her medical records.
“I think she is telling
you the truth,” said Raju.
“What is your
name?” I asked.
“It is Grace,” she
answered.
We gathered some of the
nearby racers and Noe prayed a powerful prayer. He declared, “Grace, God
says you are beautiful! You are beautiful.” She was crying. You could feel
God’s presence. And a wave of emotion hit me.
We sent her away with money for the train and for medicines and
with hugs. And if she found grace through us in that short interaction, after a
day of searching for it, we found that grace has a pronoun. Yesterday’s blog
was also about grace – but about grace as an abstraction. Tonight she took on
human form and kissed our spirits. She walked away in the night, but her spirit
lingered with us.
