STOP JUDGING. It's a SMALL world (Nirmal Masi UK )

(Acts 16:18) . . .This she kept doing for many days. Finally Paul got tired ( or "Nettled" or ਅੱਕ ਗਿਆ ) of it and turned and said to the spirit: “I order you . . .' 

I too was "nettled." [Stinging or common nettles are widespread across the U.K. {Stings like crazy if you just  barely brush your skin on them ]  Yes, I got so tired of him I prayed, "Please Jehovah, just zap him away like Paul did to that girl, ugh, how I wish I was Paul right now!" 

  It was so annoying. I had just parked in front of a house.  The sister told me, no one is ever home. Well, as we drove up, 8 PJ men are standing outside the house, and they saw me, darn! So I couldn't make a run for it.  

While we tried to explain the purpose of our visit, a PJ Christian man, "John" kept interrupting our every other sentence, "Praise the Lord!, ...Jesus is our savior...there is no salvation …". OMG, you gotta be kidding me.  But we were able to set up a RV with 2 of the men. 

The following week, the RV asked if we could meet at his uncles house 5 minutes away. We did. Guess whose house it was? OMG. You gotta be kidding me!  Our audience was 3 PJ men, including John.

3 months later, the RV agreed to attend meeting, and guess who kinda pushed him to attend? Yep, John! So I thought, out of all those guys, is perhaps John a sheep?  Jesus said: Stop Judging. And Jehovah seems to be using him to get others to study and to the meetings.  So my focus changed from the guys to John. We started a study with him and his Philippina wife.  The other guys became uninterested. 

After our 1st couple Bible study, Nirmal, John's real name, told us that he has an aunt in UK who does "EXACTLY the same thing as you, she is just like you."  And usually that means they are Pentecostal or Born again Christians who use the name Jehovah because the Hebrew scriptures we use is provided by a church society in India. He continues, "I told her about you. And that you would call her." Great.  I prefer to avoid those calls. Nirmal had sent my number to his Masi and sent me her number. So I did a casual, "Hi, this is Sukhi from...Nirmal Paji asked me to contact you." That was it. No fluff.  And no message was returned, as expected, and boy was I glad! 

A few weeks later, my phone rings, caller id: "UK Masi Nirmal." Oh man, Do I answer, ignore, hang up, oh no, what to do , what to do...I DO NOT want to talk to her, cuz if we argue, Nirmal may quit studying!  I answered.

Masi:  "Hello, Sukwinder, me Nirmal di Masi aa."  " This is Nirmal's Aunt. (Btw: I ain't a Sukhwinder!) I kindly greet her and she continues, "I heard you are studying the Bible with my nephew and you know...Sukwinder, there are many ways to study the Bible, you see.... I am ONE OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES!" I am like, "shut up!" (Didn't say it, just thought it!) , what she can't see is that I am on the floor (Like the scene in My Best Friends Wedding when Julia Roberts falls to the ground when she found out her BFF was engaged , but not to her as she hoped).   I quickly recomposed myself remembering that she may not be a JW because the name Jehovah is commonly used in Punjab. But I think she is. Still, must validate.   

Me:  Really.  Wow. So do you attend a Kingdom Hall ?

Masi: Yes, I attend the . . .KH. 

Still not convinced. 

Me:  What day are your meetings and what language do you attend. 

Masi:  I attend English meetings and we have 2 meetings on ….

I AM CONVINCED

But she isn't about me.   

Masi:  So Sukhwinder.aa (ugh!) You are Jehovah's Witness too?  Umm, tell me then I just want to know, so how did you end up in The Philippines, I mean why are you there?

Me:  Can you find 2013 Watchtower October, there is an article there about preaching in The Philippines, and there is a picture of a Sukhi there, that is me!   

(Background yelling, I hear her telling her husband to write down the date/year etc.) 

Masi: So you ARE REALLY A JEHOVAH'S WITNESS!?

Me:  Yes, ! 

And we both laugh and talked about everything. 

So Nirmal Paji was right! We are the same! 

Oh man, what a crazy moment that was.  After that she called weekly to check up on Nirmal's progress. 

Nirmal's Masi and Uncle from English Congregation, England. 

She learnt the truth in English because there was no PJ group in her area. 

Nirmal Paji, Lynn and me talking to Masi after their 1st Bible study. 

This funny coincidence thickened even more when Masi mentioned a "Dave and Jas" had called her, "Aunti, we will be coming to visit you from USA in a few days." And then my friends, the Harts in CA USA, said that a "Dave and Jas" from England will be staying with them. What da?!  They are one and the same! Her spiritual kids. 

What a small world - indeed. 

And Jesus' perfect counsel: Stop Judging. 

How true.  

If only we could apply it better.  

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