Her name is Kyleah. She was just a young girl in a small town in Papua New Guinea. Nothing set her apart from anyone else in the square the day that I met her. My team and I were in the square singing and sharing gospel messages that God had laid on our hearts. She happened to pass by and listen to what we had to say. How much she heard or understood of our testimonies, I'm not sure.
After we finished speaking, one of my team members gave an invitation. He said, Jesus changed my life, and he can change yours too. He then asked anyone who wanted to receive Jesus to pray with him. After, he let people know that we would be around to talk and pray with anyone who wanted to. I didn't know it yet, but Kyleah was still there; listening.
Immediately after our program, I spent several minutes praying with many men and women about school, family, and illnesses. When I thought we were going to leave, Abby, one of my team members told me that there was a girl who wanted to talk to me. She was young and shy with a bright smile. I walked over and asked her if she wanted me to pray for her. She said yes. "What do you want me to pray for?", I asked.
She said, "I want to know Jesus". Her smile was ear to ear.
My heart melted. I walked over to some steps and me with my broken tok pigon and her with her broken english we got to talk. Communication was hard. Still, I managed to find out that her dad lived there in Wewak and her mom lived in Lae. What her home life is like, I'll never know. I tried, but with the language barrier, it was impossible to get definitive answers. I did ask her if her parents knew Jesus or went to church and she said no. She was the first in her family. I was so proud of her faith. I was able to explain what it meant to ask God into her heart. Then I got to pray with her. Every time I heard her small voice echo the words that left my lips, my heart swelled. She was the one. I felt it in my spirit.
God spoke to me through her. He reminded me that he would still have let Jesus die, even if it was to save this one little girl. He still would send people to places like PNG to share the gospel, even if it was only for this one girl. I knew this and I truly felt the joy of heaven fill my spirit when she prayed. When we finished, her grin was even bigger than it was before. When she left I keep praying that it would sink in. That people would come alongside her and she would never stop running towards Christ.
God used my encounter with Kyleah to remind me that missions is simple. We have been given this great gift, and we want to tell people how they can receive it to. The only thing my team and I did was share about how God changed our lives. Kyleah was drawn by the Holy Spirits presence. God moved in and through us to draw her to him.
