The Traveling Katalinas
Jessica Sunday
What I am about to type gave me goosebumps while the beautiful lady in the bottom photo sitting beside me finished telling me her name. You must be reading that first line thinking , "Really, Jess you have got to be kidding me?" If you are thinking that (as I would be to), please hold on as I share with you the significance of the travelling Katalinas. This requires me to back up roughly three years ago as I had the privilege of meeting the other beautiful woman in the top photo, Katalina.
Now, the Katalina I met in Nicaragua on my first missions trip I will never forget. Ever since the day I met her, she has held a special place in my heart. One of the days while I was in her neighborhood, I got the chance to invite her to the local church for service. She told me that she suffered from foot problems and that it hurt her to walk to church, yet she was always faithful to church. That testimony she shared with me meant so much to me. I think it meant so much to me because seeing how she could suffer physically yet still made it a priority to nurture herself spiritually, strengthened my faith. So, I took part in introducing her to her first 'selfie' and when I was seated in service that evening guess who came up to sit by me? To no surprise, Katalina sat by me! During song service she shook her maraca, and at the end of service I tied a friendship bracelet around her wrist so that while we may always be miles apart, she will hold me in her heart. I wonder if she still thinks about that moment? Maybe she holds me in her heart as much as I hold her in mine. That would be the only way I could make sense of why I still think about her, right? As you can see, Katalina and I shared some pretty fond memories. And guess what? Despite the language barrier, it was still possible to make these beautiful memories. To be fair, I had a translator, but smiles and hugs are still a universal language everyone can share in.
Okay, it is time to fast forward to my recent medical missions trip to Peru this past summer. After a long clinic day on Sunday, August 13th, our team attended the evening service in the church we set up clinics in for two days. As I was finding a seat to sit in, I decided to make my way to sit with this sweet lady that is pictured in the bottom photo. Everything about her screamed "Katalina." I really felt as if she resembled the Katalina that I met in Nicaragua. She was older, had physical limitations, yet still was faithful to her God. I mean, there was even a little girl who right in the middle of church service came up to her to give her a big hug! That was precious to see. Already having the thought that she reminded me so much of the friend I made in Nicaragua, I decided to ask her name.
¿Cómo te llamas?
This question changed everything. As you may have already guessed, she replied that her name was Katalina! I am not sure what my first thought was or even if she spells it the same way I am spelling it, but I know all the hairs that were lying on my skin now were raised in instant shock. To me, this was a really neat testimony how the Lord was working on this trip with me. God of Heaven had me on this trip right then, that month, that date, that church, that town, that country, that seat for this very moment. Some may call this a freak accident or maybe even this sorry word called coincidence people use who have a very small amount of faith or maybe none at all. My friends, I would like to say that this was far from coincidence. This had Jesus written all over it. I do not know about you, but I love when God writes His holy name all over our lives. I serve the God of Heaven who cares about the tiny details of my life, and He cares about the tiny "insignificant" details of our lives. He makes what we or this world call "insignificant" into SIGNIFICANT! Did you catch that? We do not serve an insignificant God so it really is incapable for Him to do insignificant things. He does significant things! God showed me that even though I was a million miles from home that He was right beside me, that He was going to provide for me, that He was going to keep me safe, and that He had me in the palm of His hand.
Those who are doubting God right now, can I challenge you to surrender your doubt at the foot of the cross? Trust me when I say that the God who formed you can remove your doubt and replace it with faith. If you let Him, He will do a work in your life that only He can do if you trust him wholly. If this testament of what Christ did with me on this past trip does not give you chills and you brush it off as coincidence, I do not know how to reason with you. All I can say is that I am so glad I serve the Lord of Heaven and Earth who showed me how particular He could be in my life. This act of God increased my faith, removed doubt, and gave me a new vigor to trust Him fully with every detail of my life. I pray this testimony is as encouraging to you as it was for me as I continue to share the goodness of God with people I come across in this life.
"Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off."
Psalm 139:2
