by Team Expansion workers in a sensitive location
Our conversation had turned towards the time of the old regime. My local friend sat on my couch with me, sipping her cup of green tea.
“My children were really young then, and my husband was always gone for work. He had to spend weeks at a time in other provinces doing project work. Even when the work was over, he would sometimes have to spend a couple of weeks in the capitol to grow out his beard before coming home.”
Jan,* my friend, has taught me many things. One of the greatest is enduring hope. That day, she told me of her brother’s entire family being wiped out by a rocket that was propelled into their compound. One of her sisters also died as a result of the warring in the country. About a year and a half ago, her 14 year old son died. The tears still come quickly when she speaks of him. A few months ago, her nephew was electrocuted to death while trying to fix a wire on his house.
“Life here is so hard,” she told me. “One day, though, it will all be over, and the sadness will end. It will be happiness forever.”
She knows the true Hope of Jesus and lives for Him. I read to her one of my favorite verses, from Revelation 21:3-5:
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Even though God’s Word is still new to her, these words from the Revelation to John were clear and real for her. This God, this King, is the One she longs for. Her heart will never be completely healed until God Himself wipes away her tears.
Jan’s past is one filled with heartache and sadness. As a result, she is fixing her eyes on the One and Only who will fulfill the hope she has for a brighter future.
*Names were changed.
