Amazing Grace

I squished myself into the microvan amidst the many wet Nepalis. I couldn’t believe it was pouring down rain in the middle of January during the dry season! I had stopped carrying my umbrella 2 months ago, so I was glad my winter coat had a hood that would keep me dry until I made it home. We drove through Maharajgunj and I squeezed out of the micro and back into the pouring down rain. I walked the 15 minute walk to my house as quickly as I could, jumping over the many muddy potholes. The alley up to my house is the worse, as it is right beside a construction warehouse that is constantly muddying up the alley. Covered knee high in cold water and mud, at least I would be inside my dry house soon. I arrived to the house gate. There was a padlock on the outside. Great. That means my family is out and I don’t have a key for the lock. They said they would be here when I came home, but instead I am locked outside in the freezing cold rain. I call them. No answer. Call again. No answer. Call again. Finally an answer. They say they are in Chakrapat, only a 5 minute drive away, and on their way to let me in. Good. I wait as the rain pours down on me. There’s no shelter around the house or even half a dry spot. But they said they’re on their way so I won’t be waiting long. But long it is. The cold water was seeping through my jacket and was now getting on my clothes. I walked back out of the muddy alley and got under the roof of a nearby café. Waiting. Soaked. Waiting. Cold. Freeeeezing cold. I could feel my sickness getting worse and was trying to avoid getting too angry. All I wanted at this moment was to be dry, warm, and feel at home. I was tired of being disrespected and my needs forgotten. This moment just added to those feelings. But the anger isn’t what was overtaking me; it was the feeling of not even being cared for. My mind went round and round about the cultural differences I was forced to get used to. I had been distracted by my own thoughts and avoiding the cold rain, that I hadn’t looked too much around me.

For some reason all of a sudden I looked up and straight ahead of me on the other side of the alley was a breath-taking site. The shack on the other side of the alley used large metal scraps for its siding. On two of the pieces read: “AMAZING” and “GRACE”. Wow. This site seemed so out of place… this is a Hindu country with so few Christians, especially in Basundhara where I live. Who knows this song? Who knows and worships the same God that I do? Who decided to write it on metal scraps? And who would want to build their shack with it? But more than the whos and whys was the message behind it, that I would have never learned if I hadn’t been locked out in the rain. Despite the pouring down rain and cold, I have God’s amazing grace. Despite not having a place to feel at home, I have God’s amazing grace. Despite my anger from cultural issues, I have God’s amazing grace. My life is far from perfect and I’m constantly grasping on to God’s grace to save me. When I am feeling lonely, it is God’s grace and presence that comfort me. When I need confidence with my work at school, it is God’s grace that strengthens me. My life is only through God’s grace. The ironic thing is that I had walked this alley hundreds of times, but the only way I would ever notice this message of amazing grace was by being locked out in the cold rain. I’m often reminded of God’s grace when I am soaked and chilled to the bone, needing comfort, strength, or someone’s presence. But here as I was standing cold and soaked, I realized that the thing I truly need in my life is God’s amazing grace. And there it was, written on scrap metal pieces of a shack in a muddy alley of a Hindu country.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I’m found,
Was blind but now I see.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine.
But God who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
He’ll be forever mine.
You are forever mine.