Dear Sister in Christ,

I greet you in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Like every living thing in this planet earth, we humans also go through various phases of birth, active life and death. We develop and cherish our own goals, idiosyncrasies, ambitions and  dreams of our parents through our lives. At the end of the day, as  we turn back and introspect at our own accomplishments, lost opportunities and sometimes wonder after reaching a pinnacle spending a lifetime of effort, whether it was worth it at all. I have seen and read about people who never bothered about their own self or their families but pursued with mad vigour on some goal and finally on accomplishment feeling miserable about lost things and life could not be replayed  again.

But can anyone have her lifetime aspirations only to see the joy in the face of a total stranger whom she does not know at all ! ! !   I wish to briefly state the life of one such lady who did.

She was born British, in a wealthy merchant family to a very loving father who was so fond of his children that he even did not want them to get married and move away . This girl was very beautiful and used to wear fitting attire worthy of their status and people adored her beauty. She developed passion for painting, but it did not give contentment to her soul as she desired. One day she happened to attend a meeting in the Church where a British born captive young missionary serving in India virtually challenged the youth to take up missionary work in the East where it was more needed. This Lady accepted the challenge and found that it finally gave contentment to her soul. The reluctant father unwillingly agreed and a farewell meeting was arranged by the community. Someone remarked that she looked more like a beautiful actress than a missionary. The Mission sent her to India that time under British rule.

Life had its own twists and turns but  God willed that she marry the same young missionary who had challenged her abroad in the meeting. They were happily married and were blessed with two good children. They spent their lives in the “Mountains of Death” a small range in the central Tamil Nadu more popularly known as “Kolli Hills” known  for its tropical fever, poverty and guinea worm infection. Even though the mountain tribe accepted  their medical help, farming practices etc., no one accepted the gospel and the Love of Christ which they passionately proclaimed. It took long, painful years to win a few souls which happened finally in the death bed of the local temple priest who requested them to adopt  his, to be orphaned children. The tribe overstricken by their love to the orphaned children, whose father was the main opponent of their mission, willingly accepted the God who loved his enemies…

They had to part with their own children in their early childhood itself as the children had to be sent to England for  studies. The Lady remarked: “ something died in me as I saw my children off to far away England”…. Later she lost her husband to the raging black water fever…but continued with her mission in the hills. She gave medical treatment, empowered the tribes to hygienic practices and took care of the abandoned children. She finally managed to eradicate the dreaded guinea worm infection from the community. Apart from a frugal living, she saved her entire salary to buy pieces of lands for the Mission. When she turned 68, the Mission Authorities back in England asked her to retire. She begged them with tearful eyes and managed to get one year extension and retired from the Mission. But at 69, she started on her own and criss crossed the mountains of death for the next 24 years till her death carrying on the missionary work alone.

A cruel fall and limitations of sicknesses or a hip fracture never restrained her from her mission and she grew gracefully old. Her son, by this time had become a accredited surgeon and revolutionized the lives of millions of leprosy patients world over. On seeing his mother’s fragile lean figure with a graceful smile, he remarked: “ You never get old, Because when everything is shed, people see only Love…..“ Incapacitated shortly before her death, she crawled between the wards and preached gospel to other patients.  She breathed her last at 89 years with a smile on her face… She remained a blessing throughout her life to others.

I have read somewhere that an unicellular organism like an Amoeba performs almost all functions of a complex living being like a human being and even reproduces itself and continues through its progeny…….

Probably if this Lady, during her youth had chose to marry a local elite in Britain, she would have roamed the English royalty  and perished unseen. Rather she chose the golden path showing the love of Christ among the down trodden leaving everything (material) but finally gained “The crown of Life” adorned on her by the Lord Himself. People called her “Granny Eve” (Evelyn Brand).

Jesus said: ”He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." ( Mathew   10 : 39 )

Prayer: Dear Lord, bless us, open our eyes and ears in these last days and make our hearts shine with your light. Please enlighten our hearts with the “Truth” which is otherwise hidden to wisemen and saints. Let our life shine in You, always and for ever. Amen