Fatima was an old Indian woman who had to stay in bed for two years due to a broken leg. Grace would visit her every week to keep her company and chat with her. Every time she visited Fatima, she would pray for her. Only after three years did Grace get the opportunity to talk about God’s Word with her. From then on, Grace would have Bible Study and prayer with Fatima every time she visited. After the Bible Study, Fatima would always say, “I feel so good and satisfied. Please read more from God’s Word.” One day when Fatima’s daughter was lying sick in the hospital, Grace visited Fatima. It was then that Fatima told Grace secretly, “I am praying to Jesus who is my Saviour. But don’t tell anyone about it, because I am afraid that if they find out, my Muslim friends will not bury me when I die.”
One morning when Fatima was very sick, she said to her daughter, “Thank you for taking such good care of me all these years.” Then she hugged and kissed her and asked her to make a big bowl of porridge. Fatima said that she was hungry because, “Today I am going on a long journey.” After breakfast, with a tone of joy in her voice, Fatima asked her daughter to eat her breakfast quickly. “Very soon, many people will be coming here so you will be very busy and will have no time to eat,” she said. At 9:30 am that morning, with a sense of urgency, Fatima said to her daughter, “Please wash me and put me in my best clothes for I am ready to go.” At 10:00 am Fatima laid quietly in her best clothes with her hands folded over her heart. She smiled peacefully and said goodbye to her daughter. Waving at something or someone in the air, she whispered, “They’re angels. They’re calling me to take me home to my heavenly home. I am going now.” And then, peacefully, she breathed her last breath and died.
When Fatima’s daughter told this story to Grace, she said, “I have never seen anybody die in such a peaceful way as my mother did.” After Fatima passed away, Grace started having Bible study with her daughter every week. When Grace would come to her house, she would always put her work aside. She would say, “God’s Word is most important, let us study it.” Grace trusts that the Word of God will guide her to know the truth of the Saviour.
Source: Paul and Grace Chiang, SIM Johannesburg
[Fatima, sick 2 years, visited, prayed for, announced she was going at 10.00 am, saved, God’s timing, took her at 10.00]