She really was resisting us. Poor, alone, shy…this young girl was impervious to the attempts of kindness being showered on her. I knew as American’s we must have seemed a little scary, but this was just getting ridiculous… On October 24th of this year, a group of about fifty people, including myself, traveled with Mr. Gothard to Peru for a week-long mission trip. During the trip the Lord’s hand moved mightily in many ways— leaving every single one of us in awe of His awesome power.
A humorous thing happened one day part of our group went to a homeless girl’s shelter… I was in shock at the poverty the girls lived in, yet how smiley and happy they were because of our visit. There was one girl, however, that stayed solemn and alone. I observed, as different people from the group attempted to talk to her; it was useless! She kept her arms folded and eyes downcast. I had endeavored to talk to her twice already— just saying “hello!” but my attempts were as futile as the rest. The moment I gave up, however, I felt a nudge in my spirit. “Just one more time… try to talk to her just ONE more time.” At first I was reluctant, but nonetheless, I obeyed the prompting.
I opened my mouth to speak, “Hi, my name…” – I could already tell this wasn’t going to work, since her face was still grim, but I just kept talking— “…is Madelei… *HICCUP*” Oops. I killed the chance. Why the hiccup right then??? I tried again, “I’m Madelei…*HICCUP*” It happened again! Why was I hiccupping??? I attempted my name one last time, “I am Madelei…*HICCUP*” I thought for sure I had ruined my chance with her— But then it happened!!! She burst into laughter! She actually smiled!!! God used my hiccups to tear down her walls and I was able share the love of Jesus with her. What I thought had been a bad thing turned out to be the door to communication. I thank Jesus for that little girl and I thank Him for the day He gave me the hiccups.
