Mei* had been in the hospital for a few weeks, due to a leg injury that had become infected. Though her family came to visit as often as they could, she found herself becoming more and more lonely.

One day, she heard some of her nurses talking about their morning meeting and what a wonderful time it had been.

“How could a staff meeting be so fun,” Mei wondered, “that they look forward to going each day?”

Eventually, from overhearing things from other nurses and a few patients, Mei learned that they were actually having a Bible study. She had grown up in a remote village in the mountains, and knew nothing of the book they were teaching or the God who supposedly wrote it. It had been 3 days since anyone from her family had been able to come visit, and Mei was so lonely and bored, that she asked one of her nurses, Li*, if she could go to the meeting with her.

First thing the next morning, Li came to collect Mei and brought her to the meeting. Dr. Liam* was leading that morning, and began by sharing about a God who had created the whole earth and everyone in it, and he told a story about how the people on earth had been so wicked that God had destroyed all of them in a flood, except one family who still obeyed Him. Mei remembered hearing a story from her grandfather when she was younger, about a flood that had covered the whole world, but Dr. Liam spoke about the event much more seriously. At the end of the meeting, the staff all prayed to this same God together, and they even prayed for Mei’s leg to heal quickly and that God would comfort her in her loneliness. This surprised her, as she had never said anything to anyone about being lonely.

Afterwards, on the way back to her room, Mei asked Li,

“How did you know that I was lonely and missing my family?”

“I just felt that I should pray for you in that way,” she replied, “I guess God knew that was what you needed.”

Mei was a little nervous, yet interested, about this new God who apparently knew her even though she didn’t know Him. She continued going to the meeting daily, listening closely to the things Dr. Liam was teaching.

On the day before she would be going home, Mei went up to Dr. Liam at the end of the meeting.

“I want to know more about this God you’ve been talking about, but I’m leaving tomorrow and I don’t know who else can teach me about Him.”

Dr. Liam was able to sit down with Mei, and explain how this God was the true God. He created the world, and wanted to know her and let her know Him. He gave her some of the Bible that she could take home and read, and arranged for Li to visit her and follow up soon.

There are thousands of people around the world, like Mei, who have no one to teach them the truth about Jesus and His love for them. At Global Serve, it’s our mission to see this changed, and for all people to be able to have God’s Word in their own language. This takes dedication and long-term commitment to see the work all the way through. Thankfully, the Lord is opening doors daily. Find out how you can be involved in works like this by clicking the links below!

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*Names changed for security reasons