Hallelujah!

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The second colony Jono and I went to the first day of medical work was the same in the form of leper wounds, but harder emotionally. Jono and I switched spots that afternoon after lunch and I prayed for the patients while he handed the gauze to Jayaseely. Then, she came, a woman with one small wound on the bottom of her foot. But what I didn’t see was how deep it was, all the way to the bone. As I was looking at her beautiful face, she looked at me and I smiled, she smiled a little as well then the smile immediately went away. It was replaced with gnashing of teeth and a very pained expression. I was drawn to her. I went over at that very moment and comforted her by rubbing and stroking her back. Then a tune came to me that I started singing over her. It was some of the words from the song “Amazed” by Jared Anderson of the Desperation Band. Jesus changed the words a little for me though. I heard him in my thoughts “I am amazed by her, I am amazed by her, I am amazed by her, how I love her.” I hummed that tune over her, and then the words started coming out softly as well. I could feel her pain in my heart, as Jayaseely was cutting off the skin and cleaning that deep wound. I wanted to cry with her and share in my sisters’ pain, but no tears came. Jono saw what was going on and started to pray as well. There was something about that woman, she is different some how, and I just sensed that. This woman is going to have a great impact on other lepers in some way. She is going to bring them closer to Christ I just knew it.

At the end of that first day of medical work, I realized that Jayaseely always did the same thing. She said it at the end of the morning work as well as the afternoon. We always started off work with prayer. Then at the end, as we were cleaning up, she would always say “Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!” I asked her why she did that, “Well, because he is the one that did all the work here today, not us, we were merely tools for him. He is the one that heals and helps us do this work.” Wow, what a response. Then that made me think. How often do we after a good workday say “Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!” thanking him for all the income that he provided for us that day and that he gave us the ability to do our job to the best that we can? We took Jayaseely home. While on the way to her house, I asked if we could pray for her. She made such an impression on me with her strength to be able to perform medical work fulltime, but also be a mother to a sick son at the same time. She of course being a strong believer bowed her head, opened her hands to receive the prayers of Jono and I, and sat in the presence of the Lord. I think for the most part she understood what we were saying. I still can’t get over how amazing it was to see such strong believers in the oppressive country. It makes me want to strive more and more after Christ to be like him so he can continue to use me to bless others in their walks of life.

All in all, that first day of leper work was what I expected, but not what I expected in many ways. It was not as “disturbing” physically as I thought it would be, the wounds were not as gory as I was expecting them to be. These lepers are so blessed by the YWAM leper ministry. They are taking such good care of them and their wounds as well. Emotionally, it was not what I expected, it was harder. Remember that woman who I sang “Amazed” over? In the moment, I could feel her pain but for some reason could not cry. Well, later that night as my team in I were in debriefing, that all changed. I started to share about my experience with the lepers that day and the tears flooded out. I could barely breathe or even talk. These people are so precious and beautiful; they are human like everybody else, yet they are treated like animals! It struck a deep, deep cord in me that I don’t think I will ever be able to get rid of. That day broke me, Jesus broke me that day to see start to see and love people as he sees them. He has showed me their pain and suffering and he is not ever going to stop.

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