BY CHEN JA SAI
One afternoon I went to weed the bok choy and other vegetables growing in my garden. Some of my friends worked alongside me in their garden plots. We chatted now and then as we worked. The sun beat down on my head but I didn’t mind. Being outside with the birds chirping and the fresh air gave me new life. It seemed like a normal day in the leper colony.
I stood up to get a drink of water, but suddenly everything around me started to spin. I grasped the air, trying to catch my balance. I started falling, down, down. My arms and legs scraped against the sharp concrete. I landed in a painful heap at the bottom of a dry well that is next to my plot. _300x200.jpg)
Pain ripped through my arms. I could not move. My friends slowly made their way over and looked down. They knew that with their handicapped hands and feet there was nothing they could do. But wait, Brother Wu and Sister Fan could help! One friend hobbled to his wheelchair and headed to the dormitory to call them. Quickly, the missionary couple ran to the site. Brother Wu jumped into the well without hesitation. Carefully, he hoisted me over his shoulders and managed to carry me out. Both of them carefully transported me to the hospital. They waited with me all night, reading passages from the Bible to encourage me. Finally in the morning the doctor operated on my broken arm. Four operations later, I was on the road to recovery. Words cannot tell you how grateful I am for their help.
Before Brother Wu and Sister Fan came to our leper colony, I had never heard the name of Jesus. They showed me who Jesus is through their love. I know God sent them here, not only to save my life but to give me a special gift—a new life as a Christian. Brother Wu and Sister Fan’s love did not stop at rescuing me from the well. Every day they serve me and the other lepers, feeding us, bathing us, cutting our hair, and teaching us from the Bible. Anytime we ask for help, they are willing. They treat everyone equally, no matter what their background is or how severe their condition. They never ask us to repay anything. I know that without them, we could not live long. We would be in such a pitiful, hopeless state. We are despised by society, the lowest of the low. Yet, I feel the happiness and joy of the Lord through Brother Wu and Sister Fan. No longer are we alone. We have friends and we have Jesus. In Christ, we are one family. This passage sums up what I want to say: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10–11).
“Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.” —Mother Teresa
