Alisha changed my world. Even though I only spent about 30 minutes of my time with her, I’ll never forget her. Never. My prayer for my mission trip to Nepal was that God would break my heart for what broke His. When I got to Nepal, I saw the poverty and hurt around me. I saw it everyday as our driver skillfully wove through the streets of Nepal. I saw children running through mud puddles, “sacred” cows wandering by the side of the road, and beggars. For one of our first days of ministry, we went into the slums and worked. We preformed our drama and other funny skits, and played with the children. Though I enjoyed my time, I remember feeling disconnected and distant.
But the last time we went to the slums…that’s when I met Alisha. We joined up with another ministry group from our team that was doing crafts with the children. Alisha came right up to me with her huge, beautiful smile. Her eyes were so big and inviting. After introducing herself to me, she pulled me into a hug. From that moment on, we had an instant connection. Over the next half hour, we drew pictures for each other. Alisha told me about herself and I told her about me. When I asked her if she knew Jesus, she laughed and replied, “I think I like Jesus too much!” I laughed and responded to her, “No, Alisha, you can never love Jesus too much.” I could see Jesus in her eyes. She had Jesus eyes, you could say. His love from overflowing out of her in a way that I don’t even understand. Alisha represented joy in a slum of grief. She represented light in darkness. I miss my precious girl so much!
4 comments:
Anna,
That is such a powerful and lovely story! I loved seeing the pics!
I am so glad you were able to go to Nepal! Thanks for sharing!
~Emmy
Here in America we have so much to be grateful for but still, we complain about life. When you go to places like Nepal you see how good you really have it. We should relize that God sees this stuff everyday day. Just think about what that means. Poverty, murder, discrimination, hate, and countless other acts are viewed by God millions of times. We couldn't take that for one second. We have it so good sometimes...never mind, all the time!
Isn't it awesome that God brought you into Alisha's life, and brought Alisha into your life like that? I love how you wrote that part of this blog entry..about how light was shining in the darkness, through her in the slum. So powerful!
Em-You're welcome, dear! I always jump at the chance to share stories from my mission trip to Nepal. I'm so glad I was able to go, too. Maybe I can go back some day. :)
Simon-Haha, I think I could write a paper on what you're talking about! When we were walking back to the bus, Alisha walked with me. While we were jumping around mud puddles, she pointed at her house (more like a shack) and was soooo proud to say, "That's my house!" She was to thankful to actually have somewhere to live. It really changes your world going and seeing poverty like that.
Liz-Yes!! It's so awesome how God has us cross paths with people. I'm sure you can agree with Africa. I can't wait until heaven to see Alisha! (I once told my team that and then I added, "Oh...and Jesus." :)
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