October 8, 2007
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The Stone Breaker
So after 9 weeks, the Nepal Project team finally did our presentation about Nepal to the Mosaic Boston community this past Sunday. The community had been looking forward to this for over 2 months and it was encouraging to see the many people who came to the presentation, including some of our friends and supporters from other local communities. It was an extremely meaningful Sunday for me personally, no doubt at all about that.
I was one of the team members who was asked to share one of my stories from Nepal with the congregation. As I was informed about this literally at the 11th hour on the night before the presentation, I naturally was a little nervous about doing it, but at the same time I already knew what I wanted to share. The tricky part was how to be as concise and concrete as possible in the span of 4-5 minutes. So I woke up early on Sunday and just worked on the testimony up until the time I had to get over to church on time.
I tried to stay focused and calm, but the combination of watching the video that Dan made and the funny explanation that Mike Chen gave about the ending was deadly to my attempt in staying calm and serene. I honestly hope that the main point of what I wanted to share got through because it did become hard to stay focused and not let the emotions that were percolating to the top overwhelm me.
(Just another reminder to me that I am not a person who can write things down verbatim and recite it. All I really needed were talking points…)
For those who are curious or couldn’t make it yesterday, I’d like to share what I originally had written down and thought I’d share verbatim. Added bonus to this version is that some pictures can be used to make more sense of the story.
Good morning Mosaic! I would love to share with you one of the many lessons that God had taught me during our time in Nepal this summer. It was on the last day that
we were in the village of Pokhara. Dan & I were hiking up the mountain range because Devi, one of the founders of the HOPE organization, wanted to show us the future site of a computer center that HOPE was planning on building. Devi also wanted to get our opinions and thoughts on how to effectively build this center and train the local villagers
in the use of computers.
Afterwards, we began traveling from one home to another so that Devi could talk with the families and tell them about this computer center.
While Devi was in one of these homes, Dan & I were standing outside waiting for him. As I stood there, no more than 20 feet away from me, was this little schoolgirl washing a small metal pan on the ground.
I didn’t fully understand why, but as I watched her, a flood of emotion began to fill up in my heart.
It was then that I realized that if things do not change in Nepal; if the direction of this nation does not change, then this little girl will be bound to repeat the same cycle of poverty
and hopelessness that previous generations have experienced. Simply because of where she was born and who she born to, her future has already been written, if the circumstances around
her do not change.All I could think of besides breaking into tears was to take this photo of her to honor what God had shown me that day. I still think about this girl, though I don’t even her name. Every time I look at this photo, I pray for her. I pray that she will one day experience freedom from this cycle of poverty, and that she would reach the full potential that God has given her. I know that He knows her name, her life, and that he has a future for her that is beyond anything that I could dream for
her. Thank you.
As it happens sometimes, one can say something that also teaches oneself.
“Her future may have been written in stone, but God can break that stone and free her.“
I don’t know where those words came from because they weren’t in my original thoughts as I prepared, but they couldn’t be any truer. Nothing has been written in stone that God can not destroy, demolish, and brush away. He alone is the one who can change this little girl’s destiny because He is the only one who can break this cycle and empower her to reach the full potential that He’s given her to become.
