And a Little Child

by Fay Nelson

We were at Shoes’ Church in the Bush village of Shoes near Senkobo, Zambia. It was our last Sunday in Africa and the combination of miles, flights and experiences were taking a toll. After my part at the beginning of the service, I slipped outside, walked around the church and sat down in the back, grateful that our hosts had provided us with camp chairs instead of the uneven log pews.

The service was typical African – different groups got up and sang and shared testimonies. The sun was hot on the straw roof and I was struggling to stay focused when something caught my eye. A little girl, perhaps three or four, was standing in the aisle and staring at me. She was filthy. She wore torn clothing. Her nose was running. Her eyes were yellow. Her stare was intense.

I smiled at her and prayed for her as I focused on the speaker. My attention was distracted by movement. The little girl was inching down the aisle, staring at me. I smiled again and she stopped and hid herself behind an adult. I refocused on the speaker. A little hand touched my knee. She had made it down the aisle. Again I smiled and prayed.

She continued staring, kept her hand on my knee and worked around to the side of my chair. She was burning with fever. As I watched, she turned around with her back toward my leg and inched her way into my lap. Here eyes were as big as she looked to see how I was responding. I smiled at and prayed for her.

She sat very still, staring. I was very still, praying. She was wet. She sighed and cuddled against me. I hugged her close, put my hand on her hand and prayed that God would heal her, reveal Himself to her, bring her to the point where she could choose to know Him personally. She burrowed deeper into my hug. And then she sat up, stared at me again, wriggled out of my lap and went outside to be with the other children. She returned a couple of times, stood staring at me for a moment, and then went back to her friends.

I didn’t hear the sermon – I spent the time praying for that little girl. And I heard God remind me of His love for the little girl, her friends and her neighbors. Most are just like her – dirty, diseased, hungry and soiled, not just physically but with the excrement of sin, needing a Savior. While she touched and broke my heart, every single one in her condition breaks His heart. The knowledge of His love and the need that all people have for it is what compels me to spend my life going everywhere in the world that I can, telling people that Jesus loves them, will save them and make them whole.