Back at the Guesthouse.....Do Not Be Afraid

What we spent most of our time at the guesthouse doing was eating! This is where we were served our meals, and they were good ones. For most of the time at these meals - I don't know why - I would just watch and listen. I'm usually more outgoing, but it was a little overwhelming sometimes. There were 6 members of our team, a couple from another church and about a dozen Naval Academy students - of which only 2 were women!

Of course the Naval Academy dominated. Their loud voices, showing all the cool stuff they bought from shopping (too much?!) at the marketplace and their game of seat saving in the van when we had to go somewhere. The couple was from a Protestant church in Colorado. The man came up to me one evening when I was finishing a meal. He asked me where I was from and about our church. When he found out our church was Catholic, he stopped talking. He looked at the cross on my necklace and said "I thought Catholics only wore crucifixes".

I saw the couple (John & Kristen) again at the guesthouse and they were alone. At first I was afraid to talk about our church. But I walked over to them and started talking. They were touched by the story of our Church. I became friendly with this couple who were very kind to me. They thought I had a special gift for praying for people after witnessing me praying for one of Dr. Chris's patients.

I still remember this patient very clearly and her name - Zima. I still pray for Zima. One night at the hospital, Dr. Chris was counseling patients, and some of us were allowed to observe. The nurse suddenly flew open the door and spoke rapidly about bleeding. We were told to follow Dr. Chris to another medical room. The room was dimly lit and the night air was chilly. This young woman (Zima), who you could see was very beautiful but very afraid, was having a miscarriage. She was a young, unmarried and she had HIV. Dr. Chris scolded her for not following his instructions. He had saved her life. She was extremely ill when he had started treating her 5 years prior. And she had been doing great until this. A lady on our team prayed for her and she and some other people left the room with Dr. Chris. Then it was just John, Kristen and me alone with Zima, who was crying and obviously suffering. I had that old feeling come back to me of when I was young and in school and I didn't want to raise my hand. It was like when you want to speak but you can't. Why did I feel that way? This was no classroom and this woman was suffering. My voice pierced the quiet. "Zima", I said "Zima, God is not punishing you." "Oh but He is", she said, "I did the wrong thing and now I will be punished. I thought having children was my purpose in life." She began to cry even harder.

I felt I knew what she was feeling. I myself thought I was being punished, when I found out I could not conceive a child. I don't remember the prayer that came out of me when I put my arms around her, but I told her of God's love and reminded her about Jesus and that God did have a purpose for her life. She got rushed to the hospital that night. I heard she was OK, but I never saw her again.

This young woman made a huge impact on my life - this young woman from Nigeria. And I believe the reason why is that I felt some kind of connection with her. I've known this but I had never really felt it before. Somehow I really felt how we are all the same deep down inside. Scared and afraid - even if we don't know it. And we have a purpose for our life given by Him, even if we don't know exactly what it is.

I believe that people I met, both the Nigerian people and the other guests at the guesthouse, all had a reason to be there at that place and at that time. As for the Naval Academy officers, I will tell you 3 kindnesses they did for me while I was there. The first was when I got lost in the village marketplace (yes, lost). One of the young men ran after me, yelling my name, found me and took me to safety. And then there was the day I got sick to my stomach at the guesthouse, and the young man said to me, "Miss, please you can go lie down in my bed and rest". And lastly, one day I returned to the guesthouse on a day in which the rain was the heaviest. I was drenched and another of the young men said to me that I could have some of his dry clothes to change into.

What happened to me in Nigeria is -in that moment, at that time of my life - I felt my life really did have a purpose on a larger level than my immediate family and friends. I don't know exactly what it is - but I think it is to use whatever I have suffered, however it compares to the suffering of someone else - to empathize and use that suffering to help.

I realized you do not have to work miracles to change other people's lives for the better. Just small acts of kindness mean so much. And if you want to help a stranger, even pray for one, do not be afraid to do it.

Teresa Pompa