I was sitting with a friend recently reflecting on life and the past summer and the future. She asked me about Guatemala, which led to Zambia, which led to India. It made me sit further and just reflect on how God worked on my heart and changed me in different ways on those different journeys. We laughed as I summarized my experiences as I am the very worst missionary.
When I was 18, I spent two months in India. I was hot and uncomfortable. Yet very much at home and in love with a culture that was so new. We spent time at a leper colony. My experiences there are quite different than my teammates. The very first day we walked in and went down a street and so many people started greeting us. I was a bit overwhelmed. Suddenly a women greeted us in English. I was so surprised! I went to her and she invited me into her tiny little house. I didn’t know it then, but I was home for the summer.
I quickly found out the woman’s name was Sunita. She showed me around her tiny house and invited me to sit on her bed. We hit it off right away. She made me tea and I remember talking about our families that first day. Sunita’s house became home when we were at the leper colony. She taught me how to count in Hindi and simple greetings. We shared stories of our lives. I’ll never forget the day that we found out Sunita was a Christian. My heart rejoiced.
I played with her son and helped him with his homework. She even spent her own money to buy my teammates and I soda on a really hot day. We were so honored. We just did life during those precious hours together. Sunita taught me more about loving God and loving others than I could ever have taught her.
I never ventured out of Sunita’s house during our visits to Lajpat Nagar Leper Colony that summer. Maybe that makes me a bad missionary…maybe it doesn’t. (Mostly just kidding). But, I know that my life was forever changed by a women just by doing life together for a few hours a week. Drinking chai and talking about life. That is love.
Jesus tells us to love one another. That if we love one another, people will know we are his disciples. I wonder how much more I can love those around me the way Jesus loved. The way I’ve been shown love.
Kourt
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35