Visible

The prayer was simple, but it came from a desperate place.

“Lord, please use me in India.”

I had planned many mission trips before, but most of the time I felt like my role was simply organizing and leading them. I never really felt like there was a deeper purpose for me personally. But this trip felt different.

I was leaving my family for two and a half weeks to travel across the world, and I wanted to know God had a reason for me being there.

So I prayed.

When we arrived in India, our team consisted of five adults and fourteen students. Each day was an adventure because we never knew where we were going until that morning. We would climb onto the bus and wait to see where the day would lead us.

One Sunday, we were scheduled to share the Gospel at a church. After the service, the students were excited because we were heading to an orphanage. But as we were loading the bus, one of the pastors who traveled with us asked if we could make a stop first at a home for the physically disabled.

We all agreed. 

When we arrived, an older pastor explained that the building we were standing in was a home for people with physical disabilities. He quietly told us that, in their culture, these people were often considered “the least of the least.”

As I looked around the room, my heart broke.

Many of them sat on thin mats placed on the hard floor. Some could not walk.  Each person carried some type of physical disability. Yet despite their circumstances, they looked at us with such warmth and gentleness.

As the pastor spoke, I felt the Holy Spirit stirring something inside me.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I stood up and asked if I could share something with them.

My hands trembled as I spoke.

I told them that even if the world saw them as “the least,” God did not. In His Kingdom, those considered least would be great. I told them that God could use every single one of them for His purposes.

Afterward, we spread out around the room and prayed with the residents.

Soon it was time to leave, and we loaded back onto the bus to head toward the orphanage. As we drove away, I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder.

“Sister Anne,” someone said softly.

I turned around. It was the older pastor.

“You are right,” he told me. “God can use these people.”

Then he shared something deeply personal.

Years earlier, his daughter had been born with a disability. She passed away at the age of thirteen. With tears in his eyes, he explained that if it had not been for her, he never would have come to know the Lord. God had used her life to lead him to Christ.

By the time he finished speaking, we had arrived at the orphanage.

That ended up being the last day the older pastor traveled with us. For the rest of the trip, the younger pastor continued as our interpreter while we visited villages, a leper colony, and finally, on our last day, another home for people with physical and mental disabilities.

When we arrived, we were welcomed by some of the most joyful people I had ever met. They were so excited to see us. Some of them took us around to show us things they had made. 

After our skit and worship, it was time to share our stories. One of the adult leaders spoke first and shared about her son. Then it was my turn.

I shared about my son, David, and how God had used him to change our family. I told them that even though the world sometimes sees people with disabilities as burdens, God gives every life purpose and value.

Then I asked if anyone wanted to receive Jesus as their Savior.

Most of them did.

After spending more time touring the home and meeting residents, we climbed back onto the bus to return to where we were staying.

As the bus rolled down the road, I felt another tap on my shoulder.

“Sister Anne,” the younger pastor said quietly.

“I need to tell you something. Today, God broke me.”

I looked at him, confused, unsure what he meant.

He continued.

“When you first said these people had purpose and would have a great place in Heaven, I was angry. I thought, ‘How can she say these things? These people are useless.’”

Then his voice cracked.

“But today, when I walked into the yard, a young man ran up to me, hugged me, and said, ‘Daddy,  you came to see me.’”

He paused, wiping tears from his eyes.

“At that moment, God broke my heart. I no longer hate these people. Now I have love them too.”

As the bus rumbled through the streets of India, I stared out the window while tears quietly rolled down my face.

I thought back to the prayer I had whispered weeks before.

“Lord, please use me in India.”

I had no idea He would answer that prayer like this.

He didn’t use me through a stage or a spotlight. He used me in quiet moments of obedience, inside broken places filled with people the world often overlooks.

And somehow, in the middle of it all, He allowed me to witness something holy.

I watched God soften a hardened heart.

I watched Him speak truth through trembling words.

I watched Him bring light into places I didn’t even realize were so dark.

And through it all, He was changing me too.

He was reminding me that purpose is not always loud, and impact is not always visible. Sometimes it is found in a conversation, a shared story, or a simple tap on the shoulder that changes everything.

I went to India asking God to use me.

I came home forever changed.

“whoever is least among you all is the one who is great.” Luke 9:48