The City of Joy
By Chrissy Lopez, Fremont, NE

   In October 2006, I traveled to Kolkatta, India for a mission trip with some people from my church group. We trained for this trip for 3 months, but nothing could prepare us for the work we we'd be doing in the city of joy. For a week we volunteered at Mother Teresa homes, Nimral Hriday, Daya Dan and a day care for children of prostitutes. The first time I walked into Nimral Hriday I was overcome with fear and I didnt think I had it in me to serve such hurting people. I saw pictures of the starving, dying and diseased faces the sisters of charity so lovingly care for. The sisters live completely selfless lives, devoting their entire being to serving the poor. They go out to the streets everyday looking for the sick and dying, to give them a place to recover or die with dignity and love. I told my leader I couldn't do it and she said, "Yes you can Chrissy. You can do this." We went inside and I was crushed with sorrow. Rows of dying men laying on cots, volunteers scurrying around giving medication and providing comfort for so many. Us girls went to the women's side and I still had doubts. I sat on the floor a bit, looking for someone to help. I asked God to give me extra grace and help me to serve like He would. I helped administer some medicine, served some meals and then looked around for someone to help when a woman came up to me and introduced herself. She was blind and had some trouble walking. Most of her teeth were missing but she had a smile that lit up a room. Her name was Sibani, she looked to be between 50 and 60, we quickly became friends. I really struggled with the language barrier in India, there are around 20 recognized languages and some estimate between 2 and 10,000 other languages are spoken throughout India. So I spoke to her in English and prayed we could understand each other. I asked her questions like where are you from, and she would try to answer her best in broken english. When I asked her how old she was, she started to sing the happy birthday song, in perfect english! After that she said, "December 25! December 25!"  She was born on Christmas day! I asked her who else was born on that day and she said, "Jesus born on December 25 too."  She then belted out a round of jingle bells! So I sang jingle bells, away in a manger and rudolph the red-nosed-reindeer there with her on a hot, sticky Calcutta afternoon. The language barrier was gone. I asked if there were any other songs she'd like to sing? She started to sing Auld Lang Syne so I sang what I knew and she began to clap and shout, "Happy New Year!" I asked her if she could sing something special for me, she told me she would sing a song she wrote. Sitting there listening to her sing was one of my dearest memories of India. She tugged on my arm to sing her song with her and even though I didnt know the words I sang along. She layed her head on my shoulder and I sat there in amazement, wondering how much this woman has been through in her life, living on the streets in one of the poorest countries in the world. Yet she was singing. She found joy amidst her circumstances. I didnt understand how such a place could be called the city of joy, but now I know why. You can take our posessions, you can take our health and you can even take our loved ones, but no matter how hopeless or sick or impoverished a human soul can be, no one can take away our joy. After meeting Sibani, I know that there is hope for this world and when there is a language barrier, music seems to bridge that gap. Music has moved me and blessed me in many ways throughout my life, singing with Sibani was a huge blessing and I'm so thankful to have called her my friend.

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