Listening to God

Crickets chirped, the muted strains of happy-go-lucky island music swirled through the caressing warm breeze. Palm trees rustled in the patio and frogs near the pool were striking up their nightly chorus. Tucking my feet under my skirt I snuggled into the cushy hotel lobby couch waiting for the last 2 kids to get in from their evangelistic meetings. Sleep seemed to descend like a soft blanket so I shifted in my seat as I murmured “Lord, help me stay awake till those boys get in.” Clear as a bell the thought invaded my foggy mind “go talk to the guard over there by the entrance.” Peering around a huge elephant ear plant I peered at the guard. “But Lord I don’t know him at all. What am I supposed to say to him?” “Tell him the story from India about the leper that was healed.” “Oh ya, right Lord, I am just going to walk up to a perfect stranger and say “Do ya wanna to hear a story?” “I don’t think so!” Sliding back into the comfort of the couch I tried some other way to stay awake but after several unsuccessful attempts I got up rather hot and bothered and muttered “O.K. Lord I loose, you win but I do so hate looking like a complete idiot.” Walking over to the guard I tried to think of a logical way to introduce myself. Settling down on the wall for a long planter I said “So what’s your name?”

“Cesar” he said

“So are you married with kids?”

With a cross between amusement and intrigue he said “Yes, married, 3 kids. Two girls and a boy. The girls are 8 and 6, the boy is 18 months old.”

I nodded my head. Now what should I say?

“Um…..do you like stories?” I blurted out, feeling my face growing warm.

“Sure, I guess,”his light brown eyes twinkled in his dark brown face as they tried to figure out what this strange American lady was up to.

“Well first, do you know why all 56 in our group came to Dominican Republic?”

“Yes, I heard you were giving some type of meetings about Jesus in local churches. I wish I could have attended some of them but I work nights as a guard so I never got to any of them.”

“That’s too bad. We would have loved to have had you at one of the meetings. Well this story comes from a trip very similar to this one except I was in India. After the meetings were over, I was in the airport in New Delhi waiting to catch my flight home. Looking around I discovered I was not the only foreigner in the airport. There was one man with red hair and blue eyes sitting a crossed the room, looking about as bored as I felt. I got up and asked him if he spoke English. He said “right I do!” and from his accent I could tell he was from Australia. He told me he was returning home after holding evangelistic meetings in India and we began to swap stories along with an elderly missionary gentleman who was from Georgia.

The red-haired Australian looked at us both and began his story. “The first time I came to India was 10 years ago. Roughly 700 people came nightly to hear about a God who loved them unconditionally. The last night, after saying tearful goodbyes and promising to meet in heaven, I was packing up my projector and laptop when I heard someone saying “Pastor Pastor”.


I looked up and was embarrassed to hear myself gasp. I had once been a hospital chaplain and had seen many gruesome things. I was trained to not gasp but this time I couldn’t seem to help it. A man stood at the other end of the stage. His skin was putrid in places, where his nose should have been was an oozing hole, part of his cheek was missing and I could see his teeth moving up and down when he talked. His fingers were non-existent. (Picture is not of the same leper.) The leper talked loudly not wanting to get any closer so as not to contaminate me. Through my translator the man said “I wish for you to pray for me to your God. I have come to every meeting only I have sat over there in that yonder field hearing because of the loud speakers. My wish was to become baptized but I know that is not possible due to my condition so I have come with two request for the God of heaven. First I would so like a Bible and that God would teach me how to read His word. Second I would like my fingers to grow back so I may turn the pages of this Bible.” The trust in his brown eyes warmed my heart and yet a the same time terrified me. I had never seen anyone healed before, much less a leper. I knew I didn’t have much faith. After all the Bible says that if you have the faith of a mustard seed you can move mountains. I had never moved even rock by praying much less a mountain. But I nodded and prayed for healing and for God to give this man a Bible. I wished with all my heart I hadn’t given all the Bibles away but I had none left. When I opened my eyes my heart sank. I am not sure what I was expecting but to see the man with such a hopeful look in his eyes and yet be unchanged broke my heart. I asked him if I could take his picture so I would not forget to pray for him upon returning home to Australia. He readily agreed.

Back home, the leper haunted me every time I went foraging for something to eat. His face stared back from my refrigerator door and the devil would taunt me saying “you didn’t have enough faith, did you! You let that poor man down! It’s all your fault he wasn’t healed.”

Two years later I returned to India. I was excited to noticed that I would be about 75 kilometers from where I had been the last time. It was my hope to go back to check on the church I had planted previously. But being busy I didn’t get time to notify them of my coming before I left home. This time the meetings were even better attended than the last time. More than a thousand surged into the tent for the nightly presentations. All too soon it was over. I was packing up my equipment with a heart full of thanksgiving but also sadness. I had not had time to go back to the previous area where the meetings had been held. Suddenly I heard the footsteps of someone running. Before I could turn around I was enveloped in a huge hug from behind as someone said in a typical Indian accent “Pastor Pastor”. Turning around I was smothered in a hug by a very sweaty Indian man. When I finally saw his face, I was puzzled. He was a perfect stranger to me. “Pastor Pastor, don’t you remember me?” cried the man. “Sir, I am really sorry but I don’t think I have ever seen you before in my life. Your eyes look familiar perhaps but nothing else. You have to excuse me sir. You see, everyone here in India has beautiful brown skin, dark brown eyes and black hair. However, me with my white skin, freckled face, red hair and blue eyes….well I kindaa stand out so you remember me but I don’t remember you.”

“But Pastor, I am the leper!”. I gasped in amazement opening and closing my mouth a few times as I tried to dislodge some words from my throat. When I finally succeeded they ran out, bumping into each other in their haste. “But how did this happen? When did this happen? And you are completely healed?”

The man’s face broke into a huge smile as he laughed out loud with glee. Well Pastor, I was not actually from the town where you held the meetings last time. I had come there to beg for food but I stayed in that open field to hear about this strange God who regardless of cast loved even me, an untouchable. When the meetings were over, I returned to my home village and called the people together. I told them I had the most wonderful news to share with them. Of course I had to yell at them because they couldn’t come any nearer but every night for one week I shared with them everything I could remember that you had told us in those meetings. At the end of that week they said “you can’t stop now!”

“But I don’t know any more.”

“Well where could you find out more?”

“From a book called the Bible but I have no money to buy one. However, I believe that if God provided a Bible for me, he would teach me how to read so I could read it to you.”

“Your God could do that?”

“Yes, my God can do anything.”

“Oh ya, then why do you still have leoprosy?” yelled one skeptical woman.

“I am not sure,” I said, “but I think it’s because it’s not essential for me to be healed but it is essential to learn about Jesus. So I believe that if I had a Bible I could read it even though I have never been to school.”

The group thought about what I said and discussed it amongst them selves. Finally an old man stepped forward “All right. I have a little savings stuck behind a brick in my house. I will go get it and see if it is enough to buy you this Bible. I hope your God comes through for us.” So saying he hobbled off to his house.

A few hours later he came back. “Here leper, here’s your Bible. I sure hope you can read it because none of the rest of us have any education either and we can’t read. I hope I didn’t waste my money.”

I picked up the Bible and it fell open. Suddenly hot tears burned my eyes, because those strange squiggly lines I had seen on road signs jumped into meaning. I began to read out loud “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have ever lasting life.”

“He can read, he can read,” the old man shouted running through the village as fast as his arthritic legs could carry him.

So pastor for the past 2 years I have read to them for about an hour every night. We’ve been through the Bible more than once now. I have no idea how I was healed but little by little my fingers grew back and one day my fellow villagers told me my face looked good too. I ran over to a puddle of water and looked in and I laughed out loud. I had my nose back and my cheek! I ran to the next town and went into a doctor’s office. Once all the patients had left I asked to see the doctor but told them I had no money. They said “without any money you can’t see the doctor” but the doctor overheard and motioned me in. “I am sorry doctor, I can’t pay you but I wish for you to check me over and tell me if I am ok.”

“Why are you so worried young man?” the Hindu doctor said kindly. “You look just fine to me.”

“Oh doctor it is important sir, I just have to know. Check me all over and tell me if I am ok or not.”

The doctor shrugged and began to examine me. After a few minutes he said “Well young fellow, I have no idea what you are worried about.”

“Well you see doctor I have been a leper since I was a child.”

“That isn’t possible! You are the picture of health. You must be mentally instable.!” I told him my story about how the God of heaven had taught me to read. I proved it by reading a chart on the wall of his office. The Hindu doctor looked intently at me as he rubbed his chin. “You know, I am inclined to believe you! If this God is this powerful I suggest you hold on to him.”

“Anyway pastor, I am so sorry it is so late at night, but could you baptize us?”

“Us?” said the red-haired pastor as he wiped away tears.

“Yes pastor, we heard by word of mouth that you were here so we walked day and night to get here. Outside the tent are 25 other people from my village who are prepared. Could you baptize us in the river yet tonight?”

The Australian pastor shifted in his uncomfortable airport chair as he looked off down memory’s lane. Chuckling softly through his tears he said “Then I said the stupidest thing I have probably ever said. I said “But sir, the Bengali Tigers come down to the river to drink at night, the hooded cobras are still out, the crocodiles are in the water and we can’t see them because it is too dark.”

“But pastor”, said the previous leper earnestly “If God can shut the lion’s mouths for Daniel couldn’t he keep the tigers, the cobras, and the crocodiles away from us for our baptism?”

“Of course!” “Thanks for reminding me of that.”

“That night 25 precious people and one previous leper were baptized in the dark waters of that swiftly flowing river and in my minds eye I am almost certain I saw the angels dancing for joy. “

Looking over at the guard I finished my story with a choked voice. Cesar was now sitting next to me on that wall as he brushed away a tear that had slipped down his cheek. “And I thought I had troubles! See if I ever complain again.” Squeaked out the emotional guard.

“Well Cesar, the boys have now arrived and I must go to bed. I know this might sound strange but could I have your telephone number?”

“Sure!” smiled Cesar. As he was writing it down I asked him. …. “So life seems rather rough sometimes my friend?”

“Ya, … at times.”

As he handed me my notebook back with his phone number in it. I looked at him and asked on impulse, “what does your wife do for a job?”

“She is a cashier, or at least she was. I put her on the plane today to go to Antigua.”

“Antigua? Why?”

“Well we just weren’t making it here. Since I earn more, if I left my job and went, and it took a while to generate a cash flow my family would starve… so I sent her. A nice lady promised to find her a job there. Our hope is that in about 3 years she can return with enough money saved to purchase a car so I can turn it into a Taxi. Then maybe we can all have more time with the family.”

“Your wife is going to be gone for 3 years!”

Miserably Cesar nodded his head staring at the floor.

“Oh Cesar how will she survive without her babies? How will they survive without her? What about you, aren’t you going to be lonely?” Cesar shrugged and nodded as he continued to stare at the floor.

“I am going to pray for you my new friend. That sounds miserable! Surely there could be a better solution than that! Oh by the way, when do you get off work in the morning?”

“6 oclock”

“Ok, well I will do my best to be up by then and bring you down a little something for your kids.”

So saying I patted him on the back and climbed the three flights of stairs to my room and fell into an exhausted sleep.

At 5:55 my alarm jarred me awake. Throwing on my clothes and running down stairs I found Cesar and gave him a box of crayons, a pair of children’s scissors, a box of pencils, a ruler, a glue stick and some markers. “Maybe your girls will enjoy these things.”

Cesar’s face brightened as he said “I am sure they will! Thank you so much!” With that he mounted his motorcycle in order to begin his next few hours as a motorcycle taxi driver before going home to bed.

The next night I saw my friend. He was all smiles as he came over to me and said “When I got home last night and showed the girls what you had sent for them, they danced and squealed in delight. They kept asking “Daddy is it Christmas, is it Christmas?”

A couple of days after returning to the USA a strange thought which was completely out of context pushed it’s way into my mind. “Call Cesar.”!
“Why would I call Cesar?”

I went back to organizing my pictures on the computer. A little later again the thought persisted “Call Cesar!”

“All right, I thought, I am going to cal him.”

The phone rang and instantly Cesar picked up “Hello?” he said

“Cesar, this is your American friend Karen calling. How are you?”

“Oh thank the Lord you called ! I was hoping you’d call! I need you to pray for something! My wife was allowed to make a 1 minute phone call to a parent so she called her Mom and said she is stuck in immigration jail in Antigua.”

“Oh no! Why would she be in immigration jail? Wasn’t she completely legal?”

“Yes but apparently that nice lady that promised her a job was a scammer. She told my wife, Veronica, that if she didn’t give her another $200 dollars she would not take responsibility for her. Of course my wife didn’t have that kind of money and she begged the lady not to leave her but the lady simply walked off. So, since Veronica didn’t have enough money to make it on her own, immigration services picked her up and she has been in jail now for 3 days. Veronica is a good woman. I can only imagine how frightened she must be. I have no way to contact her. I don’t want to give that lady any more money even if I had it because she is not honest. Now what do I do? More than anything I want her to be safe. I guess they will be deporting her. Then what will we do? Veronica is worried sick over the loan I took out of the bank to send her there. She gave up her job here to get one in Antigua.” He paused.. “and please don’t think I am asking for any money. That would embarrass me to no end. I don’t want any money. I just want my wife to be safe and for God to show us some solution out of this problem. I was hoping you’d call so you’d pray about this.”

I prayed with Cesar over the phone and assured him I would try to help. In the morning I called the General Conference headquarters, and got the phone number to the conference office in Antigua. A very nice secretary answered the phone and immediately put their legal counsel on to the problem. I had also acquired a telephone number for a distant relative of Cesar’s in Antigua and she was working hard to try to get Veronica out of jail and the situation cleared up. Alas to no avail Veronica was deported temporarily with the promise that should she choose, and should she have enough money, she could return in 6 months.

A few days later I called Cesar to talk to him and Veronica whom I had never met. Veronica kept saying “Thank you so much for caring about a complete stranger. You have no idea what that meant to me and my husband! Even though I am back this gives me courage that God has the answer to our dilemma”

Cesar kept saying “Are all Adventists this nice? Why should you care about someone you’ve barely known?” “Because Jesus wants you to know that He loves you. I am not perfect so don’t look to me but Jesus cares about you a lot…that’s why.”

“Now, Veronica, why don’t you go back to school. If you could get a degree you could help the family budget out ever so much more.”

“What would I study?” asked Cesar’s wife

“I don’t know, maybe nursing?”

“Did you know I was once in a CNA class? I loved it and wanted to be a nurse but I have to finish my last two and a half years of high school first and who would take care of the kids while I was in school and how would we ever pay back our debt. No that would be a great idea but I have to find a job and get to work.”

After much probing I found that Cesar’s debt load for passport, visa, plane ticket, and finder’s fee was over 800 dollars. For someone who worked as a hotel security man for $185 a month and about another $125 a month as a motorcycle taxi driver, this was an astronomical amount. On top of these 800 dollars he still owed about $450 on his motorcycle. With bread costing nearly $2.00 a loaf and gasoline at $3.60 a gallon Cesar was indeed in trouble.

Talking to some friends of ours we pulled together $300 and sent it down with a trusted friend who was going to Dominican Republic anyway. Without his wife’s income, the heavy debt at the bank, and the loan on the motorcycle Cesar was really worried. He had received a letter regarding his motorcycle payments stating that if he didn’t pay by a certain date his motorcycle which was already half paid would be confiscated. He never told me anything about this, but the day that the money arrived, was the very date he was to loose his motorcycle. Since then, the bank loan has been paid off, and the motorcycle refinanced into more manageable payments. Veronica is in school full time pursing her long range goal of becoming a nurse. Fifty dollars a month is being sent to pay for babysitting which their niece is providing.

One day I called Veronica and spoke to her. She said “Oh Karen, you have no idea what all this has meant to us. It goes way beyond the money! We had all quit going to our Pentecostal church because, as Cesar put it, “We work and work and work and never ever get ahead. I am so tired all the time. Why can’t God help us? Maybe he doesn’t care about us.” Now his whole attitude has changed. The other day I was cooking some beans for supper when I fumed at my husband about not having an onion to put in the beans. I said “are we so poor we can’t afford to buy an onion?!” My dear husband said “Wife, don’t fret so. Either God will provide us an onion or will help us like the beans without it.”

The other day my phone rang and the caller ID said it was Cesar. Calling him back, I noticed he sounded rather shy. “Karen, I’ve been thinking and thinking of how I could ever pay you back for what you’ve given us. There is no explanation to your kindness except like you said there is a God in heaven who hasn’t forgotten about me. Anyway, I am sure I can never repay you but maybe this will make you happy. I have joined an organization that provides volunteer help for people who can not help themselves. This last week we cleaned up the yard of an elderly man who had no living relatives. I want to pass on the kindness you have brought into our lives. Thank you so much for showing me that God still cared even when I had given up on Him.”

If you would like to participate in such a mission trip go to www.sharehim.org