Listen to the reflections of Christine Brown & Georgie Schwarz on today!!!

Christine:

Awoke to the sound of the little angels on the floor above singing morning worship. The children are up early every morning to sing and clap to the Lord – a good example to me! Devotions this morning focused on grace, that elusive thing that we find hard to believe God extends to us and even harder to extend to others. But the children…the children are full of grace for one another and for us. I haven’t heard harsh words or quarreling among them this week. They play well with others and share their toys and games. For a group of 28 kids living together, that’s practically a miracle. And when we staged a sing-a-long competition with them, they won. They already know, in English, many of the songs we sang to them. Our Hindi is terrible J. They’re beautiful kids, shy, but happy and smiling. Several still need sponsors…

This afternoon was a most outstanding one. We walked from Pastor Das’ home down the major street of Raxaul, over the river and the railroad track, through narrow streets and alleyways, in order to visit and minister at the clinic that serves the lepers in the local area. I’ve known of this disease since I was a kid in Sunday School, but I’ve never witnessed the effects of it firsthand. I confess that I was expecting to see a group of old people, perhaps “leftovers” from the days when leprosy was still a real problem. Imagine my surprise when I looked into the eyes of a woman who was no more than 20 and nursing a little boy. And the beautiful girl who couldn’t have been more than 7 years old.

We had the privilege and honor of praying for each of the 25 girls and women at the clinic, holding their mangled hands, anointing them with oil. We asked their permission and none refused us. We would reach out to touch them and they would lift their hands to ours, and lean in to our touch and embrace. Prayer is a powerful thing, and we prayed for healing and restoration for each of those precious sisters and children of God. It didn’t seem enough, but it was what God had given us to do. Will you please pray for them too? Lepers are still rejected by their families and villages, just as they were in Jesus’ day. These women receive treatment for a time then go back home. Pray for their physical healing, and that God would do a work in the hearts of the families to receive them again. And pray that their hearts may be enlightened by the love that God showed them through us today.

Georgie:

The first week was amazing! We visited the children in Katihar and saw how Compassion International is giving the children so much hope! You can see it in their faces and the way that they play with us. Then we come to Raxaul, a very dark place that took me to a very hopeless state of mind. My heart broke for the people. There are broken homes in rubble, trash and wet clothes and sandals on roof tops, homeless people sitting close to each other to keep each other warm. After sobbing for the broken hearted, God showed me a few things which I don’t have space to share but God gave me hope again in this hopeless city!

Today, we visited the leper colony. Wasn’t sure what to expect! I thought I would fall apart to what I was about to see. But the Holy Spirit reminded me it was not about me. It’s about bringing hope to these hopeless women with hopeless futures. Trudy gave Christine and I anointing oil. Our team had decided to fast today and I’m glad we did! I went to my first patient and looked at this beautiful woman, straight in her eyes with hope and peace and anointed her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet in Jesus Christ’s powerful name. And I’m talking about touching her! I was not afraid.

These women did not hesitate to receive our prayers. I prayed for physical healing and spiritual healing. The more I prayed the more I believed the Holy Spirit was going to reveal Himself to their hearts and through the natural surroundings outside their windows. I believed that I was going to see them again in heaven and I told them that. There was a young mom who was infected with Leprosy and her two young children next to her on her bed. There was such sadness in their eyes. There were no smiles as you can imagine for fear of what will happen with their mom. But again God gave me hope and smiles and joy for them that even if she doesn’t get healed physically I knew I would see her again in heaven some day. There were 2 girls around the ages of 8 and 11. So young. But God gave me hope again that these girls will be healed physically and spiritually and will come back to share the good news with the women who come into the leprosy colony.

The most beautiful part of this time, was a lady asked me to take her picture. After I took her picture, I let her see her portrait. She had such a big smile on her face. I told her how beautiful she was! Then one by one, each of the women asked me to take their pictures. The whole place came alive!!! There was hope in their eyes. It was the Holy Spirit flowing! There is Hope in Raxaul! I can’t wait to share pictures with you all!! Jaimasih!! Which means Praise the Lord!!