South Asia: Talking animals and shining light

We flew in to this beautiful city and immediately were overwhelmed with the aroma of God’s Spirit—among many other new aromas.

The first feeling of 110-degree weather with 80 percent humidity and the beautiful faces making their homes on the sidewalks tells me that I am not in Texas anymore. And it gives me a great love for South Asia. I cannot doubt God’s purpose for these people, and I hold strong to his mercy and grace. I am already in love.

Orientation was full of new ways of travel, teaching, learning and loving the world God made. I was taught how to share Christ’s story in many different ways and truly love these people. Something that has stood out to me since I took my first auto through the slums was the face of the “untouchables.” The caste system is everything in this side of the world, and you are who you are no matter what. There is no changing.

The people who have stood out to me are the people South Asians call “talking animals.” They have no value here. They are never touched, looked at, loved, wanted or even thought of here. My heart has broken in every way for them.

A big culture shock

One little girl came up to me in broken English saying “Chapati, chapati, …chapati, chapati,” as she motioned to her mouth. I will never forget the face of that beautiful little girl. We are torn when giving the girls money because anything we give them does not go to them; it goes to their pimps. We offer them food when we can. Simply holding their hands or looking them in the eyes gives them a chance to feel loved. I cannot comprehend looking at a person and not considering them human. This was a big culture shock for me.

We were out for dinner one night practicing our stories when I saw a woman all alone, begging for food. Everywhere you go you see beggars, and the hopelessness in their eyes hurts me a little more every time I see them. I trusted in God’s timing and sat down with her to soon learn we could not communicate.

The Lord told me just to sit with her. We motioned to each other and did what we could to communicate. At one point she grabbed my hand and just held it. I felt the years of mistreatment in her hands. By God’s grace, her niece came up and translated for us and I ended up telling her my story. The woman’s name is Lali, and her niece is Mooni. Lali is about 80 years old and spent her life raising Mooni, giving her everything she had.

Pray for divine encounters

There are so many stories like these women, and everywhere you look, God gives you a chance to sit and love them. Pray for divine encounters with these people and for a way I can show them God’s love, so they will know there is hope and Jesus is truth.

We have been to many temples, mosques and holy cities to watch the people wash their sins away in the river. It was so hard to watch people who have traveled for days by foot to bring back “holy water” to their families. But when they sin again, they have to go back to rewash. I can’t help but think of the time when my sins were washed away with Christ’s sacrifice and his promise of life.

It is so hard to watch these people who do not know of the truth and are longing to be clean. It is our privilege to tell them of his freedom—to let them know the price has been paid already for our sins. I have never encountered so much darkness before, but it is making me realize how bright Christ shines—even if we have to look a little harder to find it. 

Lauren, a student at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, is serving as a semester missionary in South Asia with Go Now Missions. Her last name is withheld for security reasons.