I want to write a bit about a girl I've met on the street a few times. Her name is Asita (I'm not sure about the spelling). She has multiple times followed us around as we walk through the city. She loves having a hand to hold, or better yet someone to carry her around. She's about eight years old and wears a grayish-brown (because of dirt) dress. My heart goes out to her because I know her situation, I know some of what she needs, but I don't know how to give it to her. She's about 80% deaf, and her parents don't know what to do with her, so they just let her run around. It is probably only by God's grace that she hasn't been killed by a bus, car, train, or rickshaw that she couldn't hear honking at her. While she was walking with us we had to pull her out of harm's way multiple times.
It is so clear to me that she wants and deserves the love and attention she isn't getting from her parents. That's why she walked with us once for an hour and a half before having to be picked up and carried for another half hour back to her "home" area of the streets. I desperately want to love her, but it often isn't appropriate for her to follow us around. Yesterday she followed us for about twenty minutes as we walked to the mother house. Kristin didn't want her along since it was a long walk and we weren't going to go back to her home area any time soon. However we couldn't get her to stop following us. All we could do was refuse to hold her hand and point her towards home. That brought her to tears. Once Todd tried hanging back with her and then out running her to catch up with the team. She was determined and kept chasing. If Todd hadn't turned back part way through an intersection, she probably would have been hit by traffic.
My heart goes out to this girl, but I don't know what to do. Please pray for her and pray that our team would be able to love her effectively.
6 comments:
Hey Philip, we are with you man! You are getting emersed quickly. Thank you for sharing the details. We think of you often and pray for health, wisdom and strength. Your love and compassion is beautiful. I am sure it comes through to the folks there even with out the language.
Love Bill and Joyce and the Home Group.
That's so hard. Pray pray pray pray pray....
Wow, she sounds so sweet and at the same time, so sad. We're praying for you and Asita!
Philip,
I had that same thing happen to me, except it was dog, not a girl. I left the dog outside the fence and hoped he'd be gone the next morning. He was.
But a little girl would be a lot harder. God bless you with His HOly Spirit.
Grandpa V
Hi, Philip. I'm not "enjoying" your blog entries, but I am very thankful to have them. As hard as I try, I cannot imagine the life you are living, or certainly the lives of those around you. I pray God gives you the grace to be with each other, both within the team and in your day to day contacts with the Indian people. I think that only by being with them in Christ will you be able to continue to love them without become hardened to their suffering. God bless you and your teammates, and through you love God's precious people.
My love and prayers are with you,
Grandma V.
Thank you for letting us be with you in India. I remember being in India and wanting to tell my family what it was like and just not finding the words. It was totally overwhelming for me and I was in a cleaner, safer city. I found myself drawn to the people and wanting to help if only by a smile or a prayer but I would need to come back to my room after a few hours. I appreciate the courage and faith of your team to be there in the midst of dying and pain and helplessness. It's at these times we hold on tight to the love God pours into us, the Source that keeps us where we serve. Thanks for making this real and giving us names, Asita, your team members, you are in our prayers.
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