Behind Closed Teeth

I will never ever brush my teeth the same again.

Ever.

  I take my hat off to the dentists and hygienists who work tirelessly to provide oral health to their patients.  It’s hard stuff (quite literally!).  I’m impressed now at how well my hygienist works on my teeth.  I should tell them that.

  After finishing my 6^th victim’s… I mean, patient’s teeth, I’m moved to cry out for people to take better care of their teeth!  At least brush them twice a day, floss, never use tobacco, don’t drink soda pop or eat lots of sweets, don’t chew beetle nut… and don’t expect your hygienist to fix all your oral problems, for crying out loud!  Ok, enough said.

  I have now passed the line from an overly cautious, too gentle, not-doing-such-a-good-job amateur to a more confident and persistent amateur.  How do I know?  Sandra Miss isn’t looking over my shoulder gasping and grabbing at the tools.  At least all she has to do now is check my work after I’m done.  And she usually finds a few things I’ve missed, but overall, I’d say I’m starting to get the hang of this.  I’m always thrilled to look at the teeth after I’m done and see the work I did.  What a great feeling!

  One thing that’s been really nice is how I’ve been able to connect with each girl as I clean her teeth.  I’m not able to communicate with them except through hand gestures and vocal sounds, yet I am communicating to them so strongly when I’m probing in their mouth.  I’m showing them I care… that their oral health is important to me and that I care about their wellbeing.  I’m starting to remember their names too… Phul Kamari, Mina, Bipana, Ramisha... now they stand apart.  They aren’t just a part of the blob of Nepali girls I see everyday.  They are individual people with individual needs.  And now, I can minister to them more effectively. 

  One girl in particular stands out.  It’s Mina.  She’s super quiet, always carrying around a very serious expression on her face.  She doesn’t smile too easy and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard her laugh.  She’s seems like an impenetrable fortress, carrying heavy secrets that threaten to burst out in the open, leaving her bare and vulnerable.  I can’t speak her language.  I didn’t know that she bore a dark secret.

  Mina was married.  Or maybe I should say, she was kind of married.  She ran off with a guy, and in Nepali culture, you’re then considered married.  I guess his family didn’t like what had happened and they convinced the love of her life to leave her.  Talk about wounded.  She reaches out to grasp hold of what she thought was love, only to be burned for trying.  Her response then, was to draw back inside herself.  She felt that life wasn’t worth living, so she took a millstone of great weight and let it fall on her head.  Fortunately, it didn’t kill her, but she was left in a state of unconsciousness for 3 weeks.  She awoke, but had chronic neck pain all the time.  Somehow she ended up here at the Center.  She’s only 19.

  So I’m working on Mina’s teeth, oblivious to her hidden pain and trauma.  I notice her eyes… they scream for help since she’s sealed her lips.  When I fumble trying to tell her to spit, she smiles weakly.  If I weren’t working on her teeth I probably wouldn’t ever see them.

  Krystle tells me later of Mina and her past.  I guess Krystle was able to help relieve some of Mina’s neck pain, which proved to be a wrench in opening her heart just a crack.  Mina’s heart has starting warming since being here at the Center.  She’s finding that true love is still worth reaching for.  Her painful past may never be fully erased, but as we love Mina with a tender heartfelt love, her barriers will start breaking and she’ll soon find that she’s been set free.

That’s worth everything in the world.

  Yes, cleaning teeth is helping people with their physical needs… yet, I see more then that.  I see a tool that can potentially be another wrench in opening a young woman’s heart.  I can see her open it just a crack maybe, but even a crack will flood the heart with warmth and love.  Then, the winter that held onto her for so long can start to melt away into spring.

  And I can do that!  On one condition, though… I have to let Christ do the same in my heart.  As my heart overflows with His love, it will spill over onto one of these cold hearts and start the process of spring.