A Story from the East
August 29th, 2007 by Benji Mast
Her deep black eyes glitter at me as her dark Indian face breaks into a shy smile. She shifts on the bench next to me, but her eyes never leave mine. A silly grin is my only reply, the language barrier hindering any further communication.
A kind friend, Pramod, has brought me along to get some food for a hard working group of brothers.
As I rode on the back of his bike, I learned that he was helping Sam’s finish the project they were working on, but he wasn’t sure what he was going to next in life.
He explained, “I don’t know what God wants me to do, but I think that he will tell me when the time is right.”
It was such a blessing to meet someone across the world with such faith in Jesus and is going through the same struggle that I go through and am going through even now.
We stopped at a roadside stand to pick up a delicious food which has a Telegu name, that literally means “chili”. It is simply a whole chili pepper dipped in a wheat-flour batter then deep-fat fried.
The stand is outside of a small families’ house. Pramod motions for me sit on a bench as we wait for our food to be prepared. He sits on the bench across from me as we continue our conversation, which is hampered somewhat by his broken English. However, he communicates a sincere interest in my life and I enjoy learning about his. During moments of silence, I watch and smell the food being prepared, smile at people passing on foot or on bikes, and think about how blessed I am.
As we wait the she came and sat beside me. I take her picture and show it to her. She giggles, then smiles as if agreeing with my thoughts about how pretty she is. I raise my camera again and she smiles sweetly. Before I realize it Pradesh is telling me it is time to go, and I must leave, but part of my heart has stayed with the Indian maiden I have only just met.
I doubt that she has celebrated her fourth birthday.
In all seriousness, my heart goes out to the people of India. And I will not soon forget the innocence of that child who will grow old and go to eternal damnation unless somebody will go and tell about a salvation that is available for her.
Pramod
The Food Stand
The Girl
