First of all we would like to thank all who decided to join us on this journey. This is a great privilege to be able to share our joys, struggles, challenges, failures and blessings. We hope our travels won't be exausting and if they will be, may they draw us closer to God in prayer and devotion.
Let us begin with a short story that we thought was a good example for the beginning of our journey. Every morning I sat in one of the Redcliffe libraries and prayed that God would give me strength, a little bit of wisdom and a gift of writing to finish my thesis. I really struggled to put my thoughts together, make them nicely flow in the text and that they would make sense. One thing you should know about me (Rita) I can be quite an annoying person, because all my thoughts and I believe, wisdom come from talking to other people. So, I tend to wonder from library to library searching for someone to share my struggles and sometimes to hear other mourners like me. I think we all felt much better after an hour of mourning. After exchange of grieve we all returned to 'our library' (students are very selfish people, we have our favorate library until we finish our essays).
So, as I was walking back to my library I was told by a friend that there was a Polish woman waiting for me at the door. I rushed to see her and thouhgt to myself, 'what a shame! I have got a few lines to write down and someone decided to destruct me'.
Soon I recognised my guest. Ania is a remarkable lady! She is working with seasonal migrants from Eastern and Central Europe in partnerhsip with Gorsley Baptist church. Every day she meets tons of people, who travelled far to find a better job to support their families at home. Unfortunately, their journey to the UK often reveal more than just a need for a better job. They come to meet with God. Ania is always ready to help them in any way she can, but most of the time she offers a prayer.
Soon I foud out that Ania came with a friend, who was diagnosed with a cancer and they were on their way to hospital. All I could think was that I could not do much, what can I say to her, do I give a hug, do I say 'I am sorry'... There was not much time to put my thoughts together. I walked towards Maria (changed name), greeted her and asked if I could pray for her. She noddedd and followed me into the Redcliffe garden. As we walked to the closest bench I thought if this garden could speak. How many stories of sorrow, grief, sadness, despair, pain, joy, blessings and laughter it could share. And every time God was there, listening, crying, laughing, kneeling...
I think Maria have never thought that her journey to 'a better life' will bring her face to face with God. Sometimes we need to travel to another country, city or a continent in order to meet Him. Although, Maria looked calm, her eyes could not hide fear and uncertainty that she was going to face in just a few moments. We squeezed on the bench. Our shoulders touched each other. I took Maria's hand and prayed. God was with us! As I prayed I felt warm tears running down my face. We stayed in silence for a few minutes.
After they left I could not go back to my studies. My thoughts were filled with prayers for Maria and thanked God for being with us. I realised that there will be times in our ministry that we wont' be able to say or do much to comfort a person, but we will always be able to pray. This is a privilege we have in knowing God through intimate moments like prayer. This is His moment when He takes time to speak to the most hidden places of our hearts. He meets with us in the most unexpected places of our journey. We often think that we travel on our own and than we discover that God has been on this road before.
I do not know what happened to Maria after her visit to hospital. Ania told me that since that day she met many believers who prayed for her. I believe that this is the beginning of Maria's journey.
Till next time.
