I noticed him straight away. Tall, gaunt and a bit unsteady walking into the street alley. I wondered if he was drunk, but he didn't seem drunk. I saw him register at the medical counter; ahh, he must be sick. Let's see if I get the chance to at least pray for him after the makan. I have come to regard every Saturday feeding as an opportunity to 'connect' someone with Jesus, as I seek God's help to make it with the people He chooses.
Today for once I could 'rest'; as we had a big team of young, energetic and very capable youths from some church who had volunteered to run the entire programme from worship to preaching to feeding, with translation from Bahasa to Mandarin also thrown in. And the crowd got to listen to someone else other than 'old aunty' for a change! So I was free to move around. I parked myself next to an old uncle who was a 'regular' of many years; he was at the street feeding even before I joined. Yet it was only about a month or so ago that I really got to know him. It's strange how for so long, I would see him, seated quietly by himself every Sat. I noticed he was always decently dressed, in long-sleeved shirt and all , and he would see me, but we have never talked until now. It's as if God takes His own sweet time in 'preparing the stage' for an encounter with Him.
As it is, dear uncle was shocked at my audacity in presenting a mortal man who claimed to be God. The first time I told him about Jesus, he shook his head vehemently and declared in his mother-tongue, "It cannot be. How can it be? that God has a Son? God is God." It got worse when I talked about Jesus rising alive from the grave. "Impossible. It's just a story told by his people to confuse others to believe. All lies ". I almost gave up at his (valid) protests. Certainly, the story of Jesus really doesn't make sense, considered from purely human logical thinking. I understood why uncle had such difficulty relating to how an Almighty God could cook up such an incredulous scheme of redemption - through dying on a cross and then coming back alive. But when I started talking about love, uncle listened - finally a small crack in the heart. Over the weeks, he quietened down as I told him the reason why Jesus offered Himself as a living sacrifice to take the punishment of our sin. Over Easter week-end, he acknowledged there is no greater love than that a total stranger should die for him. Yet he wasn't ready to take that final step of commitment, to receive that stranger as his Savior. But there is hope; as I prayed for him to know the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ, he nodded his head and said, "I hope your prayer comes true for me". That's enough for me, at this stage anyway. God had broken through years of conditioning in this old man to bring him to this point to consider Jesus who loved him first.
As I moved off , I saw the sick man still sitting at the medical station. The place was almost empty by then; the doctor was seeing her last few patients . I sat down beside him and asked if the doctor had treated him. He nodded and said he had to go to hospital. And straight away I knew he had AIDS. I touched his hand, his forehead, it was hot; he was burning up with fever, and having difficulty breathing. I asked if there was anyone to take him to hospital; he nodded and said he was waiting for one of the workers there. I asked further if he was afraid, he shook his head. And he started talking about how he had entered a Christian rehab centre, tried to read the Bible they gave him, but couldn't understand becoz no one explained to him....
Didn't I say, God prepares the stage for every encounter with Him? I spent the next 20 minutes telling a sick (and probably dying) man the greatest story on earth ever told about the greatest Man who ever lived and the greatest gift of God available to all who would believe. I thought it was a piece of cake, I have told it so many times to so many people but.... so much for my story-telling techniques....after all that, he looked at me, heaving, and breathed out "I don't understand". And just then the doctor who was seated by the side already wrapping up her stuff, leaned over a little and told me, "Aunty, I would advise you don't sit so near him. He's HIV patient (she obviously thought I didn't know) His saliva can get on you; it's infectious. You should wear a mask". For a moment, I was taken aback. This, coming from a medical professional? And for a split second, a brief flash of fear, as I remembered I had some open scratches on my arm. Immediately I prayed silently. And I turned back to the man; I had a job to do, and by hook or by crook, I would do it today, because in all likelihood we would never meet again, at least on this side of earth. I went slow, he was after all from Myanmar. "There's only 2 things to understand. 1.Jesus loves you. 2.Jesus saves you. Can understand?" He nodded and in between coughing and heaving, followed me in prayer. God had broken through to another heart.
Again and again, I find this phenomenon so true. Actually God makes everything so simple. It's man who complicates matters. The old uncle, schooled in religion, couldn't understand, he asks, how can God......? A foreigner even when given the Bible couldn't understand all the talk about sin, repentance and judgement (probably because he was too sick to care anyway). But one thing both could and did understand - the language of love - God's love expressed and manifested in a man named Jesus Christ who lived, died and rose again to save the world. Actually, that's all that's needed to be understood really - even if we understand nothing else.
"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved" Ephesians 2:4-5
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