We recently hosted a team from Auburn University, and during their visit, we witnessed the kindness and love of the Holy Spirit in a way I have never seen before.

On our first village trip with the team, we visited a village about thirty minutes outside the city. One of our long term teammates, a retired nurse, asked the village chief if there was anyone sick in the village. He led her and two university students to a small wooden house on stilts at the edge of the village.

Inside, they met an eighteen year old girl lying on a thin mattress in a back room. When asked if they could sit beside her, she said no, explaining that she had not bathed in months and was worried she smelled bad. But our teammate sat with her anyway and began gently talking with her. They learned she had a severe infection in her arm and was likely in the final stages of breast cancer. She had stopped eating and was clearly near the end. Knowing time was short, our teammate wanted to share the gospel, but the girl became too tired. Her family asked them to return later.

That afternoon, they came back, but she was sleeping. On the final day, they tried once more. This time, the girl was waiting on the porch, hoping they would return.They went inside, shared their testimonies, and clearly presented the gospel. One of the university students, a gifted worship leader, sang worship songs including Amazing Grace, while our teammate translated the lyrics. As they sang, the grandmother held her granddaughter’s hand and wept. The father, also in tears, kept asking for more songs. The gospel was received not only through words but through music.

The next morning, we planned to visit her again before leaving, but we received word that she had passed away just a day after hearing the gospel. We returned to the home to grieve with the family. One team member sat beside the grandmother, held her hand, and cried with her, even though she did not speak the local language. It was a sacred moment of shared sorrow and compassion.

Later, I spoke with the girl’s uncles. I asked them what she was like. They told me she never knew a mother’s love. Her mother left for Malaysia when she was nine and never returned. She was an only child but was always surrounded by friends, never alone. And her favorite thing in the world was singing. She sang wherever she went until she got sick. And I thought, how good is God. This young girl, on her deathbed, heard the gospel for the first time not just through words but through the very thing she loved most, singing. None of us knew that beforehand, but God did.

We continue to follow up with her father and grandmother, hoping to begin a Discovery Bible Study with the family and walk with them in this next season.

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