Sister Freaks (25 page)

That Christmas, Sival and Maya invited her over for a small celebration. There, she accepted Jesus as Savior and wanted to be baptized.

Maya was overjoyed for her sister but also feared what might happen to her. At first, she thought it might be best for Purnima to keep her faith to herself and not tell her parents. But Purnima knew she could never hide it. It was too real. Maya offered to go with her, but her little sister was determined to do it alone. She walked home and blurted out, “Mom, I’m a Christian.” Her mother thought she was joking but soon realized it was true. That evening, her parents forced her to leave home.

As she began her journey, she could hear her mother crying. Purnima knew her mother really did still love her. She lived with Maya and Sival until the arrests of Christians began. But then she had to prepare to leave Bhutan.

She wanted to see her parents just one more time. She quietly opened her front door. “Mom? Mom, it’s me.” Her mother grabbed her and tears flowed as she held her tightly. “Please tell me you are not a Christian any longer.” Purnima was silent for a while and finally knew she had to tell her she was leaving Bhutan. Her mother looked at her, asking, “How can you be so brave? You are so young and innocent.” Her father entered the room, giving her a roll of money. He told her to be careful and quietly left.

Purnima stayed a few more minutes, desperately trying to memorize her mother’s face. She didn’t know if she would gaze into her eyes or hear her sweet voice again. They embraced one last time and Purnima slipped into the dark night, darting through the familiar fields one last time.

In the morning, she joined eight other believers who were also being forced to leave. They got on a bus and were dropped off near the border. There would be no more contact with home. Making their way toward Nepal, they journeyed sorrowfully, crying silent tears. Purnima cried herself to sleep each night, thinking of her village and her family. Every night she had vivid dreams of her mother. She just wanted to be her little girl again.

One night she was awakened by a heavy boot slamming into her side. She didn’t know how many bandits were attacking them, but her small group did not resist. The men had guns and lined them up, ordering them to close their eyes. They obeyed, wondering if they would be shot. Finally, they opened their eyes to find the gunmen had left, stealing all they had. Everyone had lost all his or her money, except Purnima. She had hidden the money her father gave her very well.

The next morning, they were able to get a ride to Nepal with Purnima’s money. The group was thankful for the young girl’s bravery and wit. The group used the ride to catch up on sleep. Purnima was thankful the thieves had not taken her Bible. She read about Joseph and Mary fleeing to Egypt, giving her courage to face another day on the run.

The truck stopped to refuel, so everyone got out to walk and stretch. They ran into a pastor and shared their story. The pastor was particularly sympathetic to young Purnima. He asked her companions if he could invite her to live with his family. Purnima was grateful but she still missed her family desperately.

A few months later, the pastor took her to a Christian conference. She was elated to see Sival! Now she could live with her sister. The pastor tried to convince Purnima to stay with him, knowing she would end up living in a refugee camp. Purnima understood that what he said was true but wanted to be with family more than anything. Sival led his sister-in-law to their camp on the northern border. There the sisters were reunited, shrieking with joy.

While Purnima loved being with Maya and Sival, she hated the conditions of the camp. Despair seemed to be all around. Thousands of families were living in severe poverty. But Maya assured her that they could make a difference and share Jesus with the refugees. Purnima began sharing her faith with others, soon forgetting the deplorable living situation.

She couldn’t help it. Purnima knew the rules of the camp, but she had to share the love of Jesus. Purnima soon found herself occupying a prison cell for spreading her faith in Nepal. Even in the lowest pit, which seemed like hell itself, this young brave girl brought others to Christ. She was released after fourteen months and sixteen days, and she still lives with Maya and Sival, hoping one day to share the gospel with her mother.

So young, so experienced in serving and suffering for Christ: Purnima has proven that no cost is too great. She gladly gives all for her faith, despite her sorrow.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

(Ephesians
6:10-11
)

2

amanda purcell

Obeying When it Hurts

A
manda Marie Purcell grew up in a home where God was honored and loved. She prayed to receive Jesus in elementary school. “From that point on,” she said, “it was my choice, not my parents, that persuaded me to follow God.”

It was in the throes of adolescence that she felt His nearness in a unique way. During her junior year of high school, Amanda started dating a guy she’d known since eighth grade. Even though this boy had once run with a bad crowd, he apparently had turned his life around. Amanda felt drawn to him, particularly because he seemed needy. “We began talking, and we hit it off really well and ended up going out. Our relationship was always fun, extremely simple,” she says. “We even prayed together and read Christian books.”

But there was a problem: his anger. It prevented him from progressing in his walk with Jesus, and Amanda could see it. “I was in a relationship with an awesome guy—he was fun, good-looking, and loved Jesus. Our personalities fit well together, but at the same time he wasn’t moving forward in knowing Jesus more. His anger would get the best of him. Instead of my moving forward in my walk with Christ, I was using all my forward momentum to bring him up to my level.”

One weekend, Amanda sensed it was time to break up. “No one ever came up to me and suggested it. It was just a God moment where I
knew
He was talking to me.”

She broke up with the boy two days shy of their dating six months. “I can’t explain the grief I felt at that moment,” she says. “I wasn’t breaking up with him because I didn’t like him. I wasn’t breaking up with him because he was mean to me. He never took his anger out on me. He treated me like a princess. The
only
reason I broke up with him was that God was telling me to.”

After a year of grieving—crying every day for three months, and off and on for nine more—Amanda realized how glad she was that she made the choice to obey God. There were times during that year that her heart grew cold toward the Lord. “Sometimes I wondered why God had me break up with him. I couldn’t see how it was helping me. I thought I had broken up with him so I could grow closer to God, but I felt farther from Him than ever before because my heart was so focused on the loss.”

She realizes today where her life would be if she had kept dating the boy. “I would be thousands of steps behind where I was then if I were still with him now,” she said. “I praise God that He gave me enough strength to get through that time.”

Amanda now spends her time working with inner-city kids in the Eugene, Oregon, area. She started a dance group at her home church. Along with several other leaders, Amanda teaches kids how to dance for Jesus. They perform once a month and have a short Bible study each week after practice. Amanda has seen several kids grow in their relationships with God.

Even in the midst of serving Jesus, loving kids who need Him and glorifying Him through the arts, Amanda has had to learn to dig deeper in her faith. Instead of ministry driving her to the feet of Jesus, she got wrapped up in the excitement of ministry—of reaching kids. “I began to do it for the kids. I did it so we could have another cool ministry.”

Eventually she came to see how important it was to serve Jesus for His sake and glory, not for her own, not for a sense of accomplishment. Amanda asked herself some tough questions.
Is this ministry good? Do I love Jesus with my whole heart?
“Yes and yes,” she answered. “But was I tithing my time and efforts to the right thing? No. I was not doing it for the sole purpose of praising God.”

She came to the place where she wanted only Jesus. “That’s my prayer,” she said. “I always want to be seeking Jesus, sitting at His feet, knowing and loving Him more.”

That desire to be with Jesus translates into Amanda’s actions on behalf of others. One day she saw a girl she didn’t know at church who seemed distant and sullen. Amanda spent time with her, asking lots of questions. Ellie was homeless, living in a tent where her parents sold meth. “When it was time for her to leave, I was broken,” Amanda said. “I had no way to contact her. I didn’t know if I would ever see her again.”

But over the next few months, Ellie came to church again and again. Amanda sought her out. “I was always fascinated at how much she could talk. I sat and listened to her stories and dropped snippets of godly advice whenever possible.

“But she had a hard time leaving her life behind her,” Amanda says. “She didn’t enjoy most Christians because of their rules, and she couldn’t understand why people would choose a pure lifestyle. But for some reason, I found favor in her eyes.”

Ellie continued to go to church for a year as her friendship with Amanda deepened. Amanda noticed that whenever worship began at church, Ellie started crying. One Sunday afternoon, when they were on their way to Amanda’s house, Ellie seemed ready to meet Jesus. “We pulled over into an empty school parking lot in my little beat-up ’88 Honda and got down to business,” Amanda says.

Ellie met Christ in the abandoned parking lot. “It was funny because I always thought it would be this huge emotional experience, but it wasn’t really,” Amanda says. “There was a firmness and solitude about it. She had finally come home to the one who loves her most. And in that, we became bonded in the name of Jesus Christ as sisters. We still hang out to this day.” Around church, Amanda calls Ellie “NC”—for New Creation.

Amanda is currently working part-time in her church with youth and trusting God to provide for her needs. She says, “It is exciting to get a glimpse of what my future will be like when I constantly put it in God’s hands. But it’s not even about the future, or the outcome. It’s about the here and now. It’s about the process of each moment. God is teaching me to walk in the Holy Spirit all the time.”

Even when it hurts.

Jesus [said], “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

(
JOHN 14:6
)

3

ling

Willing to Suffer

I
t was 1973 and nine-year-old Ling watched her father die of cancer, wondering if there really was a God at all. Ling and her family lived in a tiny bamboo hut in China. They had always been poor, unsure of when the next meal would come. Once her father had passed away, surviving was even more difficult.

Ling’s mother and father had been inseparable. They never exchanged harsh words. The children saw their deep love for each other and for God. Ling knew her mother was deeply distraught at losing her husband, but nothing seemed to shake her faith in God.

Winter was setting in and the hut was cold. Ling’s mother asked her to kneel down and pray with her one morning. Ling resented the request, as she really couldn’t see any evidence that God cared for them. Her mother continued to pour out her heart to God with great fervor. Ling just knelt quietly, not wanting to say anything to God, even if He did exist.

Ling’s mother realized that they would not be able to survive financially. She told the children that the family needed to move in with their grandmother. In Chinese culture, women depended on men for their well-being and happiness, but Ling’s mother was not interested in remarrying. She wanted to go to work and get a job. Her mother was very opposed to the idea.

After two years, Ling’s grandmother announced that she had arranged another marriage for her mother. “Mother, I don’t want to marry again. I could never love anyone the way I loved Jun.” Her mother’s pleading did no good, and she had to heed her parent’s wishes. Ling and her siblings had to adjust to a new stepfather.

Shu-tan did not treat the children well. Ling despised him but kept her feelings to herself. She was strong and healthy and began working as soon as she was allowed. In the fields she earned almost as much as any man. She also helped design a machine that made tofu. At fifteen, she desperately wanted to get away from her stepfather.

Ling didn’t hear her mother pray as often as she once did. The prayers she did overhear occasionally were for Ling and her sister, who labored many hours under Shu-tan’s orders. Her mother was one of the few secret believers in the village of Ru Tain. Disdain grew stronger each day between Shu-tan and Ling. Finally, he suggested she find a husband. He didn’t care for her and wanted one less mouth to feed.

Ling continued to work harder and harder, avoiding her stepfather’s path. He didn’t press the idea of marriage. Ling was grateful and just kept working all she could. Work took her mind off her family’s situation. She knew her mother was not happy, but she knew she could not change Shu-tan.

But one day, Ling saw her mother beam with a hope she had not seen in some time. Her mother excitedly told her an evangelist was coming to the village. All Ling felt toward God was bitterness, but to please her mother, Ling attended the evangelist’s meeting.

While the evangelist preached, Ling felt her heart soften and she began to listen intently. Though she had heard the gospel before, it had never made sense to her. But that night was different. Her heart was stirred and she knew God was real. She wept, realizing the pain she had caused her mother, mocking her prayers and rejecting her faith. Ling’s mother embraced her, offering forgiveness and assurance that God had a plan for her life.

For the next year, Ling attended Bible meetings with her mother. Her outlook changed, and she felt joy in her life for the first time. Then she began to have dreams about wheat fields. She didn’t know what they meant, until at a prayer meeting, Ling and her mother read Luke 10: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” (v. 2). Ling knew God was calling her to preach the gospel. Her mother knew it was time for her to obey God’s call.