a story from hayley

Kolkata, a whole different world; a city filled with garbage, dogs, dead rats, live ones too, people living and breathing in the streets, beggars, tourists, the list goes on and on! Now, there are a lot of good things too! There are little children pooping on the side of the street (cute, really), little puppies running around, genuine smiles and people, and so much more!! But Kolkata is known as the city of death. Death, what a word. It’s a word that we all are so afraid of and yet we really can’t comprehend. I encountered death this week. At one of my ministry sites, a younger woman was dying. She had eyes that were filled with love and kindness. She stopped eating and would sleep. I would visit her and pray over her while she slept. I knew she was dying. The thought of her dying scared me. Friday, Feb. 5th I came in and sat with her. That day she had her eyes opened and was looking at me when I spoke. I sang songs to her and talked to her about Jesus Christ. She would respond sometimes by getting tears in her eyes and just looking at me. The nurse told me that she only had a few hours left. At that moment I realized that she was going to die. I watched her breathe. She would use every muscle in her body to inhale and exhale. There would be long pauses and my heart would just stop. I took her hand, looked into her eyes, smiled, and sang to her. I mostly sang the song “I could only imagine” by Mercy Me. For my lips could only sing that. I had to leave so Kirstin and I prayed over her. I left her. The emotions that rose up were anger. Anger that I left her. Sadness that she was dying. Afraid that I would never see her again, but hopeful in the end that I would! Well, she died that day. It’s sad that I didn’t even know her name. But, I still remember her sweet face and her kind eyes. I know that God called me to bring life to Kolkata. Yeah, people could think that I brought death, I mean she died. But, that’s not the way I look at it. I brought life. Life is JESUS! I brought Him. And Life and Death go hand in hand. For, everyone has to go through death to have life. I look back and I have to say that I am impressed with how God planned this. How He used me, taught me, and how great it was to be a part of His great plan! Death has really shown me this: Without Death there would be no life. If God didn’t allow death we would live in this horrible, painful world forever! As hard as death is, I am thankful for it. Don’t get me wrong it is still heart-breaking, painful, and horrible. I guess now I understand just a little bit about death. Death: a word that had skulls, cross bones, and blood. Now death is a word that has a tree of life. A tree of life with flowers blooming. Death: a way to have life.

-hayley senger