Sparkly Pink Polish

My friend, Laura, went to India on a mission trip last week.  She worked with an organization called Rahab's Rope that helps women in India break out of sex trafficking.  She came back on Monday and shared the following story via email with everyone who supported her trip.  The event she mentions is a spa day.  They held it for women who were working to start new lives after having lived through sex trafficking.  The spa day was one way her group ministered to these women, and her story brought tears to my eyes, and I asked her if I could post it on the blog.  I hope you enjoy hearing about her trip and the way God works as much as I did!

 Sparkly pink nail polish - Laura Smith

2 Kings 4: The Widow’s Olive Oil

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

 Did you know, each day in India approximately 200 women and girls are forced into the commercial sex trade of India. The statistics are daunting. But we must remember that each number has a name and is intricately loved and pursued by the God of the universe. This is a story about how Jesus showed His love…

The simple act of painting nails, a regular occurring act for many of us, brought abundant joy to the women of Rahab’s Rope. As we prepared to paint the women’s nails we sat quietly on the floor, the women excitedly surrounded us, shyly smiling, laughing affirming each other with hugs and pats on the back in their native language, Kannada. Communication was difficult due to the language barrier,  but that didn't matter, the presence of our Heavenly Father was enough. We had an array of nail polish, but the sparkly pink polish was marveled after and many of the girls would not accept any other color. This bottle of sparkly pink polish was a miniature sized bottle and was also used multiple times in the days prior while interacting with women at the Stitching Center, so logically there is no way there should have been much paint left in the small bottle. My friend Michelle Clark was using the admired sparkly pink polish and we both looked at each other as the young girl next in my line wanted to use the polish. Our eyes got big as we looked at the bottle, we knew it had been used in the days prior and was almost empty. We were desperately hoping we would be able to brush the paint off the sides of the bottle to stretch the paint for a few more sets of nails. There were ten to twelve women sitting around me in a circle motioning to the sparkly pink polish full of excitement.

 Once I got the polish, I was concerned that I would only be able to paint one or two sets of nails. As I was finishing up one of the girls nails with a beautiful silver polish, I thought I could convince more of them to use this silver polish…but they all shook their heads and pointed to the sparkly pink polish, of course they only wanted that one. As I held the sparkly pink polish and painted the delicate hand in mine I prayed, Lord I would have brought more sparkly pink if I would have known they loved the color so much, oh how I wish I could go buy more right now then I decided to make a request to the Lord. I said Lord, I know you are a powerful, mighty God capable of all things; I know this sounds crazy, but can you please fill this bottle of sparkly pink polish, it would make these women so happy. I want to see their bright smiles and hear their laughter, I want these women to forget for a moment where they are, that they were manipulated into being sex slaves for much of their lives, how they were treated, lied to and about the families that have abandoned them. I continued painting the soft delicate hand in my palm and the women continued waiting patiently around me for their turn. I continued painting, ten to twelve girls had their nails and toes painted with that sparkly pink polish. The girls were thrilled! They were holding up their hands, pointing their toes, smiling and laughing, marveling at the beautiful polish. I smiled big, what an awesome God.

Joshua 1:9 reads, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified or discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” The Lord was with us during our “spa” afternoon. Just as He allowed the olive oil to flow so that the woman would be able to pay all her debts, our God still is our source of provision today, and he allowed the pink sparkly nail polish to flow until all the fingers were painted. He filled the sparkly pink polish, so that each amazing woman could have a moment of true joy, they could see they were worthy of love, of His love and the love of God’s children that came to serve and love them. I praise the Lord for letting me know that He sees me, He hears my prayers and through Him all things are possible, even something as small as filling a tiny bottle of sparkly pink nail polish. He shows his love in subtle ways and in big ways. I am so thankful for that sparkly pink polish and for seeing the joy it brought to the women we met on our trip. There were many instances when God came to my aide, he went before me, behind me and sent his angle armies beside me, this is just one of the amazing moments that took place during the ten days I spent with the beautiful women and children in Bangalore.