Waiting for God
In Scene 21 of the play He Is Near, Mimosa left her two oldest sons at Dohnavur Fellowship under the care and tutelage of Amy Carmichael and her assistants. Mimosa and her infant son returned to Mimosa’s native village and to her husband Deva and their “fortunate fourth” son, Mischief. As Scene 22 opens, many months have elapsed, and Mimosa and her two younger sons have returned to Dohnavur. To the astonishment of the villagers in the market, Deva has gone to Dohnavur to visit them.
At the beginning of Scene 23, Mimosa assures Deva that she will return with him to the village, but not quite yet. She tells him, “I must continue to learn. I am learning to read! I cannot go on without being able to read the Bible. All these years I have been like one blind, groping and stumbling. Now that my eyes have been opened, I must see clearly. I must know. But I will return.”
Deva comments that everyone seems so happy at Dohnavur. Mimosa assures him that they are. However, when she offers Deva something to eat, he tells her that he will not stain his caste by touching the food of that place.
When Deva asks his sons if they wish to return with him to the village, Rahava tells his father, “Be God’s man and stay here with us!”
In anger, Deva starts to leave, . . .
. . . but Mimosa asks him to stay, telling him that this is to be a memorable day for her because she is going to be baptized. When Deva asks her if she needs to make a sacrifice, she tells him that Jesus has already done that for us.
Amy’s faithful helper Arul Dassan asks Mimosa to confess her faith . . .
. . . and then baptizes her into Christ.
To the amazement of the audience, Mimosa comes up dripping with real water! At this point in every performance, the surprised audience applauded. While Mimosa’s sons come to greet their mother, Deva hurries away. Soon Mimosa follows him.
Amy Carmichael then told the audience: “Mimosa’s story is true. Mimosa went home with her husband. She set her heart on winning Deva for Christ, but Deva continued to see Mimosa as a disgrace. Mimosa’s life was not easy, but she never asked for ease. She asked for patience so that she could overcome. When Mimosa was a little girl, we were only able to give her a thread. But she clung to that thread and never let it go. Don’t be afraid to hand someone a thread. And pray. Pray. For God has other Mimosas. And He has ways of bringing them to Himself, for He is near. Mimosa’s story did not end there. One day we came back to this place. This time Mimosa stood on the shore and watched.”
Deva walks across the stage to the “river” where Mimosa was baptized. This time Arul Dassan leads Deva into the “river” and baptizes him. Deva comes up out of the water shouting, “Praise the Lord.”
Deva, Mimosa, their four sons, and the family at Dohnavur Fellowship end the play with one more repetition of Amy Carmichael’s song, “He Is Near.”
I don’t know who you are longing to see come to Jesus or to return to Him, but I do know this:
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved,
that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years,
and a thousand years like one day.
The Lord is not slow about His promise,
as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,
not wishing for any to perish
but for all to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:8-9
This post is the ninth and last in a series about the play He Is Near, performed by the Homeschool Dramatic Society in mid-September, 2017. You can read the other posts in this series at these links: first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth.
He Is Near is based on Mimosa by Amy Carmichael, © 1924 by The Dohnavur Fellowship; Gold Cord by Amy Carmichael, © 1932 by The Dohnavur Fellowship; Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank L. Houghton, © 1953 by The Dohnavur Fellowship; and Mountain Breezes: The Collected Poems of Amy Carmichael, ©1999 by The Dohnavur Fellowship. Used by permission of CLC Publications. For more information about Amy Carmichael and The Dohnavur Fellowship, or to purchase her books, visit clcpublications.com.