At the gates...

Two guest bloggers in one day! I've been waiting for this story for about a week. Names and details have been changed to protect my friends serving in a "closed" nation. (They did the editing themselves.)

My husband Bob and I are missionaries in the southern plains of Nepal. Not too long ago, Bob came across a woman with leprosy who was living in a straw hut on the outskirts of our village. The winter weather was unusually cold and he saw that this women had only a thin cotton sari wrapped about herself.

The next day Bob brought the woman a blanket and then asked her if she would go with him to a leprosy hospital run by Christians. The woman said she would go and so plans were made to rent a jeep to take her to the Leprosy Hospital.

In our area of Nepal, if a jeep is rented, it is then packed full of occupants all eager for a ride. So Bob, along with as many of our church leaders as could fit, crammed into a jeep to take the woman and one other person with leprosy to the hospital for treatment.

It was a Friday and upon reaching the gates of the leprosy hospital the jeep was stopped by the guard and Bob was told that Fridays were half days for the hospital and so everything was closed. There was so much disappointment that if you would have been there, you might have heard even the jeep itself moan! It had taken a lot of effort to organize the trip and so right when the goal seemed to be within reach, everyone’s hopes were dashed!

Bob then told the guard that the hospital’s director knew who he was and he asked if he could call the director on the phone and talk to him. Our people leaned forward in hopeful anticipation. Could Bob get them through the gates or not?! The guard inspected Bob. He had a scarf wrapped around his head like only Dehati people wear. (Dehati is a name given to people who live in Nepal’s plains and who have a distinctly Indian-type culture.) The guard, who was of higher standing in society than a Dehati person, adamantly shook his head and said that there was no way he was going to disturb the hospital director after hours.

Bob then asked the guard if he would call a certain pastor whom he knew worked at the hospital. The guard granted him that request and the pastor was called. After a short conversation on the phone, the pastor appeared at the front gates and, upon seeing Bob, he smiled broadly and said that the hospital director had been wanting to meet him for a long time. Dumbfounded the guard allowed Bob and his jeep to pass.

As they drove up to the director’s residence, our church leaders were giggling with joy. They were truly impressed that Bob had managed to get them inside of the hospital compound to see the director on a day off. As Bob went inside to visit with the hospital director, our people and the two lepers were directed into the clinic so that medical tests could be given to the two possible patients. Our people were awed by the cleanliness of the hospital and how professionally things were run.

Ram, one of our church workers, couldn’t resist joking around a little bit. He puffed out his chest and threw his shoulders and arms back and starting strutting around, acting like a big shot. All the rest of our people started laughing. Then Ram sat down and crossed his legs in grand fashion and pretended as if a servant was running to him to serve his every wish and whim. When he did this, the hospital doctors and patients also saw him and laughed at his antics.

Then Bob showed up and said that the director had invited everyone over to his house. Immediately Ram forgot about his acting and everyone got up to go visit with the director. They were a bit taken a back. The director wanted to visit with them also??

At the door of the director’s house our people started taking off their shoes before going inside, but the director assured them that it was perfectly fine to come inside with their shoes on. After visiting with our leaders for a short time, the director got up to go get tea and cake for them. Again our guys were stunned at such a show of hospitality for ordinary people like themselves, who in Nepalese society would be considered on the lower end of the spectrum.

After the director left, Ram again went back to his acting. He was even a bigger shot now because he had walked into the director’s house with his shoes on. (In the culture of the area, one is to take one’s shoes off in the presence of important people upon entering their house and in older culture if a person was very important one even left his shoes in the yard before approaching the house.) So it is understandable why it was such a privilege for our church leaders to leave their shoes on. Ram was thoroughly enjoying himself doing his "big man" routine and so all our people again started giggling and trying to suppress their laughter. When the tea and cake came they all straightened back up again.

After hearing this tale, from those who were there, I couldn’t help thinking about a similar scenario. That scenario is when each of us has to approach heaven’s door. You know, when we get to the pearly gates of heaven and from the outside we see some of its magnificence, we will be in a similar situation as our village church leaders found themselves. As we stand at the gates of the Kingdom of God, we will probably wonder how insignificant people such as ourselves could ever rate to be able to enter into the light of heaven’s splendor.

At the gates the angel guard will ask us, "What makes you think you can enter into heaven?"

At that time we will reply, "We know God!"

Then the angel guard will say, "Everyone says they know God. That is not a good enough reason to let you pass!"

Then we will have to say, "Well, talk to Jesus. He knows us and he will confirm to you that God knows who we are!"

So then the angel guard will call Jesus and when he arrives a bright smile will be on his face. Upon seeing us, Jesus will say, "Welcome into My Father’s Kingdom. He’s been expecting you!"

What joy will be ours as we pass through heaven’s gates into heaven itself. I think we will experience so much joy that we will not be able to contain ourselves. And when God the Father summons us into His throne room, and only at that time, we will fully realize what an awesome privilege it is for us to be one of His children! That God would accept the likes of us, because we accepted His Son, will truly be a humbling experience. We will see that even the poorest beggar who believes in Jesus will have all the rights of God’s beloved children! Hallelujah!!

Guest Blogger, Debbie