Dear friends,
I recently wrote an email to many of you, but for those of you who don't get my email updates, I wanted to pass it along to you this month via snail mail…enjoy!
Sept. 5, 2007
It's with GREAT joy that I sit down to write this email to you this morning (it could get pretty long so stick with me to the end…it's worth it). Wow, God is really good to us. Last time I wrote just after I had arrived back in Nepal and asked you to pray for a little baby girl who had just been born. We were very concerned for her because her parents are very poor, and were living in the street. The baby was born 6 weeks early and the parents had planned to give the baby to the parents of our children's home, Gautam and Rekha Rai. However just after the birth, the natural mother became very emotional and violent and left the hospital with the baby. I want to thank you all for praying and for bringing her precious life before the throne of God…of course we know He is so faithful.
Before I get to the good news…I want to fill you in more on the background of this story. Months back my roommate Kara and I were working as usual with many of the men in the streets here in Kathmandu. Consequently, this often brings up a lot of questions in the minds of Nepali people – as this is fairly culturally taboo. Men and women do not have much interaction outside of marriage. However, we walk in confidence and peace knowing that God has given us a specific calling to work with the men (while trying to be as culturally appropriate as possible of course). During this time a lot of people had been asking us if we knew many of the female addicts in the city. We knew a handful of them, but didn't have a close relationship with many. But, for some reason a lot of people just kept prodding and asking, encouraging us to find the girls. So we took up the task of trying a little harder than normal to find some girls. We met a couple and even tried to begin a fellowship for them with the help of some women in our church. But no one came. We really sought them out and encouraged them to come, but week after week the fellowship room was empty. It just seemed like we were working towards a goal that had not been ordained by God. In the end Kara and I built a relationship with two sisters who were living on the street near a bus park here in the city and were satisfied with not pursuing more girls for the time being. Both of the sisters were married and their husbands also lived in the street in this area, which is called Jamal.
Jamal is a crazy place. Because of it's location it is not a typical area where we find addicts. Usually they tend to stay in places that are more secluded – back alleys, slum areas, trash piles or abandoned buildings. But Jamal is crowded and constantly swarming with people. It sits at an intersection of two major roads, beside a small green (disgusting) pond that has a hindu temple sort of 'floating' in the middle of it. So, last fall as Kara and I began to spend more and more time there we could see specifically how the presence of God in us would affect the area. Each time we would show up there would be a fight. Someone would jump up and start swearing, the men would rip off their shirts and circle each other. Knives would be pullled, sometimes syringes, sometimes a large stone or brick would go flying. Because this was the cold season the people would usually be sitting around a fire, and often times the men would throw hot coals at their wives or at each other. It was almost as if the spiritual atmosphere would immediately be charged and the demons present would be enraged! A few times I felt danger, but mostly I just moved back and began to pray. I just KNEW that God was showing us how we needed to bring His peace and presence there. The younger of these two sisters also had a son, Ajay (ah-jay) that is 3 years old. Once, just after we showed up he fell into the pond and nearly drowned. His father, who was high from huffing glue and very intoxicated from alcohol jumped in and pulled him out. Ajay is a beautiful little boy, very clever and tough… extremely witty for a 3 year old So anyway, Kara became very fond of Ajay and sometimes when she would visit, the parents would let her take Ajay out for a few hours. Those were precious times where she had the privilege of giving this little boy peace and quiet for a few hours before returning him to the violence and chaos that surrounded him constantly in the streets. One day the parents put some drugs in a piece of candy and fed it to little Ajay. They had been 'celebrating' a Hindu festival where everyone smokes marijuana. When we showed up the next day he was not talking and was hardly responsive. It was awful. So the parents told us we could take Ajay home with us for the night to watch him and make sure he was ok. He came and we had a blast, playing and watching cartoons…as soon as he entered our apartment he was perfectly fine. But at that point Kara's heart could not handle watching Ajay trying to survive in the street any longer. She tried and tried to place him in homes but no one would take him because his parents are so unstable. In the end we placed little Ajay in a home that was started by our pastor, Ranjit and today he is doing beautifully…going to school (yes I did say school, Nepali children often start school at the age of 2) and coming to church every week. So – we are so so so thankful for that situation.
However, during this period of time we found out that the older sister in Jamal had become pregnant and was considering not keeping the baby. Kara worked very hard at counseling and encouraging the mother. A few times she brought Rekha along with her to Jamal and during those times the girl – who is generally very very hard and closed off, began to weep. It was like her heart just melted in Rekha's presence (and anyone who knows Rekha knows this happens to everyone around her) and she began to pour out her heart and all of her pain. If you look at the arms of these two sisters they are covered with slash marks and scars… inflicted not by others but by themselves. Often we see this among addicts, the pain that they carry in their hearts is so deep that they begin 'self-mutilation' where they cut themselves. Several times Kara and I have dressed the wounds of these two sisters ourselves… after having a fight with their husband or after having to sell their own bodies for sex in order to support their family's drug habit their arms get infected, and are covered in fresh self-inflicted wounds.
So, during on one of the days when Rekha and Kara were with this girl she prayed and accepted Christ as her savior. We were all so excited!! Within even a mere few days there was a rumor spreading in Jamal that something about this girl had really changed! Her face was glowing and everyone around recognized it. And then one day, that very week the girl sat down as usual with one of the other men from the area to have a fix. She had filled her syringe with drugs and the other man was helping to find a vein in her arm. They tried and tried but just couldn't find one that would work. So the man decided to take her fix for himself so that she could take the next one. Almost immediately after injecting the drugs into his vein the man collapsed and died. Later they found out that someone had sold them 'duplicate' drugs… basically drugs that are fake and often deadly. Although it was a terrible situation the girl knew that she had JUST asked Christ into her heart because the presence of God was now within her she had been saved from death… as had the baby growing inside of her. Several weeks later another crisis came up and the girl attempted suicide by
jumping into the pond near their home. Fortunately once again Kara was there and the girl was saved… as was the yet to be born baby.
This brings us to the present. The baby was born… August 4th – the angels in heaven celebrated! Satan knew the plans God has for this tiny little girl and he had plans of his own. The mother ran from the hospital with the baby. I visited her several times in the street and could see the mother and baby were in distress…but I wasn't sure what to do. You prayed. We prayed. And we had hope. Surely with all the times this baby had already been saved it would not end here. Finally last Tuesday I was walking out of the gate of our children's home just as this new mother was walking towards it. Rekha and I stood there as she opened her arms and handed us the package wrapped up in her arms… the little baby had become very ill and the mother was too afraid to try and keep her alive on her own any longer. She wept as she told us, 'Aaja deki yo tapaaiko bacha ho. Mero hoina. Ma pheri aundina…saachainai ma ulaai lina aundina!' Which means…from today this is your baby. She is no longer mine. I promise I will not come back to take her away! Take my baby…. I'm giving her to you.
We were in shock; filled with joy, and filled with so much sorrow at the same time. I held the mother as she wept on my shoulder… Rekha held the baby who was very pale, very very weak, small and hardly breathing. We brought the mother inside and spoke to her briefly but she insisted on leaving right away saying she would be in Jamal if we needed to find her. As she walked out the door Rekha and I were speechless… so much had just happened in a matter of moments. Rekha, had become a new mother once again. The baby's birth mother was gone. This beautiful tiny little baby was now with us, and wouldn't be leaving again. So many emotions filled that space. We looked at the baby so tiny and helpless and ran upstairs to tell everyone about her arrival.
We knew right away the baby needed to get to a doctor. We took her to a children's clinic that we trust and the doctor was encouraging but honest. She said the baby had pneumonia, had a large boil on her head that was very infected and that she was really struggling to survive. She kept saying, 'Wow, look how she is fighting…this little one is a fighter! She's really fighting to live.' We left there to go straight to a hospital and as we walked out the door and looked up we saw a huge beautiful rainbow across the sky… it wasn't even raining. I knew this was God's promise to the little girl. A promise of life and not death… a promise of a hope and a future….
So we got to the hospital and began the long process of waiting. Day one immediately she was put on oxygen and given a feeding tube. Rekha and I sat at her bedside wanting so badly to hold her but couldn't because of the oxygen. We watched and prayed and sang and read scripture over her…. day 2, day 3… more of the same. In the middle of the night on day three I found the perfect passage for the little baby and began reading it over her while she slept:
Psalm 3:
O Lord, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me, 'God will not deliver her!'
But you are a shield around me, O Lord;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
To the Lord I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
Arise, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
From the Lord comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
———
Last night marked day number 6. I spent the night in the hospital with Raju, who was also a former addict, went through our treatment center and is now faithfully serving God as an evangelist by day… humble servant willing to do anything to spread the love of God by night. It was really beautiful to know I was there serving beside a man who had once been on the street himself. A man who God had used my own life to bring into the kingdom of God… wow, how cool is that? I watched the little baby sleep and sleep… her cough has subsided, her color is back, she is gaining weight and fairing beautifully! Everyone in the hospital is amazed by our baby, and by our God! As I lay there on the bed beside her watching her rest my heart was filled with so much love! I could hardly stand to just sit there beside her…I just kept speaking the words, 'life…' and 'peace…' and 'hope…' over her little body. I sang 'Jesus loves you' over her all through the night and was struck by how perfect the words to that song are for her right now…. Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong.'
After the baby was born the birth parents told me they wanted Kara to name the baby. Kara is currently in the states for another month but via email she told me she wanted to use the Nepali word for 'redeemed' as the name for the baby. The word is Mukti (Moo-ktee) haha…I don't know how to write the pronunciation for that. So our sweet little Mukti-the-redeemed, and oh so beloved is with us to stay now. Supposedly she will get to come off of oxygen tomorrow, so hopefully we will be able to hold her in our arms once again. And man is she beautiful! Attached are some pictures of little Mukti during her fight… which we have given over to the Lord and He has already won victoriously!! Please continue to lift sweet Mukti up to the Lord with us. I will make sure to keep you updated on her situation as things progress…
Thank you again for your prayers!! God bless you all…
With love and a very grateful heart,
-Brook (who now can't wait to be a mother herself one day…)
if any of you would like to be added to my email update list write and let me know: brook.birch@wordmadeflesh.com