The Result of Tears

Two years ago there was a young girl living in the jungles of Guyana. She was 18 years old, and had 2 young children, the smallest only a few months old. This young girl felt so utterly despondent and hopeless one day that she decided the only possible escape was suicide. She managed to procure a deadly jungle herb, and cooked it into a poison then drained the cup and prepared to breathe her last.

Through a string of providential circumstances, a missionary nurse and the local health worker were able to intervene. The young girl was given charcoal, to bind the poison, then rushed to the hospital. She became violently ill, but miraculously did not die, and 2 days later walked out alive.
After this young girl returned, the missionary nurse and the health worker visited her in her home. As they talked with her, she opened her heart with them and told them her struggles while she cradled her tiny baby in her arms. The situation and the story moved them to tears, and the young girl unashamedly cried along with them.

For the next few weeks the missionary nurse visited the young girl faithfully, checking up on her, and trying to keep her encouraged. The girl improved physically, and mentally, and soon the visits were no longer necessary.

Two years later, a group of students are beginning their weekly outreach up and down the river. At the top of the river they stop at the very first house, and are greeted by a young woman named Ashana* and invited in. As they explain the purpose of their visit, to study the Bible, her eyes light up and she invites the group in. For over an hour these students and their leader go through a Bible study with Ashana and before they leave she insists that they return the following Thursday for another Bible study, to which they heartily agree.

The next week, when they arrive at Ashana’s house, they find about 8 other people present. During the week, she has invited all her neighbors over to her house for the Bible study this Thursday. After the Bible study comes to a close, Ashana informs the group of students that next week even more people will be present as she intends to invite her family, and friends.

Who is Ashana? She was the young girl who, two years ago, tried to end her life. Up to this point Ashana was uninterested in spiritual things, but when the group arrived to her house something changed. Leading that group of students was the husband of that missionary nurse. Ashana told him that that missionary nurse “Is my friend, because she cried over me, and shared her tears.”
Now, two years later, the seeds of those tears shed are bearing fruit in the life of a young girl who now has a future and a hope.