It was dark inside.  We had just stepped out of the sunlight into a small one room brick house.  There was no electricity, no lights of any kind.  As our eyes began to adjust we could see rice sacks scattered around like rugs trying to cover the dirt floor.  There were no chairs, just a bed in the corner to sit on.

A woman sat on the floor clutching a small baby to her chest rocking her back and forth as the little one coughed and wheezed.  Her husband scurried about the room looking for some cups as he prepared chai over a small mound of hot coals. He reached his hands, covered with dirt and callouses into a tub and retrieved some cups from the dirty brown water. He wiped his hands around in the cups in a gesture of trying to clean them for us and then poured the hot liquid.  I smiled and sipped the chai.

The woman’s dark skinned face was etched with worry as she told me of her child’s illness and showed me the medicine bottles that had taken their last rupees. Despite their sacrifices the child was not getting better.  I told them about the God who loved them, who died for them and who answered prayer. After a few moments the woman stepped across the small room and laid her little girl in my arms.  As she looked at me I could see sparks of hope trying to flicker in her eyes.  Hope that this God I spoke of would help her baby live.

The little girl had been crying and coughing but as I held her in my arms the crying stopped.  Her big brown eyes were filled with wonder as she looked at me intently.  I began to softly pray in the Spirit.  As I did so, she began to smile and then the smile turned into a laugh.  Her laughter changed the atmosphere. The darkness began to become light. Hope and faith were being stirred. I sat holding the baby for some time continuing to pray softly and then handed her back to her mother.  The baby once again nestled against her chest, this time no wheezing, coughing or crying as she slipped into a peaceful sleep.

I am still amazed that the mountains of North India are covered with thousands of villages filled with people who have never heard of the God who died for them.  They continue to sit in darkness until someone goes…until someone is sent to turn on the lights.

This story of the little girl being healed is only one example of the light shining in the darkness…we must continue to go back again and again…there are thousands more to get to.  Jesus said, “Go”…and may we never stop going. Thank you to all of you who pray and give to send us into this darkness…we pray that the light of Christ will shine brightly in us and through us as we continue to go and bring the revelation of Jesus Christ.