Trade Doll for God

"When I get lonely and have no one to share my problems with, I shared all that is in my heart with my doll that I slept with every night, especially the secrets that I don't want to share with anyone." This is the answer I got from my student when I asked the question on how she dealt with loneliness and trust way back on 2nd April 2005.

Christine is one of the monitors in one of my class that I taught way back in 2004-05. I didn't get to know her very well until the afternoon on 2nd April when she came to my apartment. My recollection of her then was that she was a very active student and very enthusiastic and very dynamic in her class. I didn't really get to know a lot of students then since I struggled to open up with people especially the first few months when I first moved into this University. I was even surprised when she asked me if she could come and pay me a visit and spend time with me for which I agreed.

It was a beautiful spring afternoon that day when she came. We planned to go out together to get some sticker photos. Even though I never get to talk to her much before, I decided to take the opportunity to ask questions about life issues. That’s when I asked her, "What do you do when you feel lonely and when you have problems that you can't share with your most trusted friends and even to your parents?" The answer she gave me surprised me in a way because it was something very unfamiliar to me that was, talking to a doll to share problems with, even though I now believed that many people would be doing something similar. Perhaps being a person not very interested in dolls, I couldn't understand the logic.

It was an opportunity that was too good to miss that I decided to share about the Person I know very well who would listen to our problems and do something about it. Then I started to introduce the Man who change my life and ask her to talk to Him and share all her problems with Him, even though she may not know who He is at that moment. I told her that even thought He is not physically with us, He is alive and that He listens to everyone who talks to Him and that he will help us in our difficulties if we put our trusts in Him. I told her to stop talking to her doll and talk to the man she doesn't know who was even existed at that point of time and gave her A Book that she could read to know more about Him. We only talked for a few minutes and then went out to take sticker-photos with her. That was our first real encounter.

A week after we went out, we had the opportunity to ride on the bus together from our school for fifteen minutes and the question that she asked me was, "Why was the Man in the book compared with a lamb?" I was quite impressed to know that she was very seriously reading the book. I was able to share with her the importance of blood for a sacrifice and the relevance of His blood and that His blood that was shed was the key for us to be saved.

Since that evening on 2nd April 2005, there was no turning back for Christine and she traded her doll with the Living God and started her life's journey with a new meaning and purpose. Not only that, we are eternally connected to each other because we are bound together with the chord of Love that will never be broken.

We had summer holiday and I went home. I felt it was Dad who brought us together and so I asked Dad if I could work with her to learn more about Him. So after I came back from home I initiated and organise a time to study together. We asked Dad to give us more friends who would be willing to learn about the Man who change (d) our lives. We managed to get three more friends of hers and since October 2005 till today we continue to study together every week and it’s been a delightful journey together with Him. What motivates me most is to see a life that finds meaning, purpose and identity and a life with hope in Him in a world of uncertainties.

Christine is growing in her knowledge of Dad but everyday challenged by the reality of the situation around her. There are times in her life that she doubted and unsure of what she is getting herself into. The challenge for her is great as any one of us. The only one who could sustain her is Dad and we journeyed together and Dad is still holding us together in the midst of great chaos around us.

"When I get lonely and have no one to share my problems with, I shared all that is in my heart with my doll that I slept with every night, especially the secrets that I don't want to share with anyone." This is the answer I got from my student when I asked the question on how she dealt with loneliness and trust way back on 2nd April 2005.

Christine is one of the monitors in one of my class that I taught way back in 2004-05. I didn't get to know her very well until the afternoon on 2nd April when she came to my apartment. My recollection of her then was that she was a very active student and very enthusiastic and very dynamic in her class. I didn't really get to know a lot of students then since I struggled to open up with people especially the first few months when I first moved into this University. I was even surprised when she asked me if she could come and pay me a visit and spend time with me for which I agreed.

It was a beautiful spring afternoon that day when she came. We planned to go out together to get some sticker photos. Even though I never get to talk to her much before, I decided to take the opportunity to ask questions about life issues. That’s when I asked her, "What do you do when you feel lonely and when you have problems that you can't share with your most trusted friends and even to your parents?" The answer she gave me surprised me in a way because it was something very unfamiliar to me that was, talking to a doll to share problems with, even though I now believed that many people would be doing something similar. Perhaps being a person not very interested in dolls, I couldn't understand the logic.

It was an opportunity that was too good to miss that I decided to share about the Person I know very well who would listen to our problems and do something about it. Then I started to introduce the Man who change my life and ask her to talk to Him and share all her problems with Him, even though she may not know who He is at that moment. I told her that even thought He is not physically with us, He is alive and that He listens to everyone who talks to Him and that he will help us in our difficulties if we put our trusts in Him. I told her to stop talking to her doll and talk to the man she doesn't know who was even existed at that point of time and gave her A Book that she could read to know more about Him. We only talked for a few minutes and then went out to take sticker-photos with her. That was our first real encounter.

A week after we went out, we had the opportunity to ride on the bus together from our school for fifteen minutes and the question that she asked me was, "Why was the Man in the book compared with a lamb?" I was quite impressed to know that she was very seriously reading the book. I was able to share with her the importance of blood for a sacrifice and the relevance of His blood and that His blood that was shed was the key for us to be saved.

Since that evening on 2nd April 2005 there was no turning back for Christine and she traded her doll with the Living God and started her life's journey with a new meaning and purpose. Not only that, we are eternally connected to each other because we are bound together with the chord of Love that will never be broken.

We had summer holiday and I went home. I felt it was Dad who brought us together and so I asked Dad if I could work with her to learn more about Him. So after I came back from home I initiated and organise a time to study together. We asked Dad to give us more friends who would be willing to learn about the Man who change (d) our lives. We managed to get three more friends of hers and since October 2005 till today we continue to study together every week and it’s been a delightful journey together with Him. What motivates me most is to see a life that finds meaning, purpose and identity and a life with hope in Him in a world of uncertainties.

Christine is growing in her knowledge of Dad but everyday challenged by the reality of the situation around her. There are times in her life that she doubted and unsure of what she is getting herself into. The challenge for her is great as any one of us. The only one who could sustain her is Dad and we journeyed together and Dad is still holding us together in the midst of great chaos around us.