The Tissue Aunty - "Ye sou oi ngo"

"Auntie, lei hou ma*?" , I greeted the 'tissue auntie' in cantonese at the bishan bus interchange. She smiled and replied she is doing fine and we started having a small chat. It was not so long ago that I met this elderly lady selling tissue paper at the bishan bus interchange for a living.

About 8 months ago, before I left for East Timor, I had a chance encounter with her. The first time I bought tissue from her, I did not say anything but smiled at her. Then I kept buying tissues from her everytime I see her and soon, I became her regular customer(and tissue collector) and got to know her better through her native tongue, cantonese. She is a lonely old woman who had lost her husband a few years ago, had no children nor relatives in singapore to depend on. Very soon, she started opening her life to me and teared on a few occasions when she shared her past and current struggles in life. On one occasion, she said, "Life is so meaningless now. I wonder why I kept telling myself to go on in life. I felt dying is better but everytime I think about it, I told myself that I must be strong and live on." I comforted her and told her about Jesus's love in the easiest, comprehensible cantonese I could managed. She had few friends and a listening ear and some companionship is what she really needed. I thank God I was used to meet her needs, simple as it is, it meant so much to her to have a total stranger that would bother about her at all.

I asked God how i can reach out to her - I really don't know. She's a pretty devout buddhist and quite a shy person so it was not easy trying to share Jesus with her(plus my cantonese is not exactly fantastic). I've tried inviting her to church but she politely declined. The best I've manage so far is to repeat the phrase "Ye Sou oi lei" - "Jesus loves you" in cantonese. She nodded in acknowledgement of the phrase and smiled, as if telling me that she understood what that really means. 8 months have pass and I'm back in Singapore, and I met her again. Before I left after our small chat, she smiled and said, "Thank you for coming and your concern for me...." and then she said something that tells me she really did understood it all, "...Ngo ji dou Ye Sou oi ngo*", she smiled and said again, "Ye Sou oi ngo*". I floated all the way home. Thank you Jesus. You have made a difference.

* Cantonese translation
Lei hou ma? = How are you?
Ngo ji dou = I know (that)
Ye Sou oi ngo = Jesus loves me

P.S. If you see a person like this on the street, ask God what He wants you to do. He can do a lot through you and make a difference in that person's life. Begin to bother.
Nowadays, aunty is smiling more and more optimistic. I'm hoping for the day when she will give her life to Jesus.