There Has to be a God: a dental chair epiphany

Adapted from a testimony written by Richard Charlick, DDS, MS, former president of Health Teams International‍

While on a mission trip in China, I had an older lady come to our dental clinic in pain. We numbed her down, and while the anesthesia was taking effect, I asked her if she knew why we had come all the way from America to help her.

She said, "No."

I told her we were Christians and Christians are taught to love everyone and to help people who are in need. I asked her if she knew what Christians believe and she replied, "No."

I asked if she would like to know some of what Christians believe while we were waiting for the medicine to work. She answered enthusiastically, "Yes."

We spent thirty minutes or so explaining the Good News while blotting her tears from running into her ears, as she was reclining in the dental chair. We were concerned that she might not be able to hear us and she seemed very interested. When I got done, I asked her if she would like to become a Christian and her answer changed my life.

She quickly sat up in the chair and said, "You know, our Communist government has told me all my life that there is no God. But just look around at the plants, animals, sun and the stars. Man didn't make them. There has to be a God. I am getting old and will be dying soon and I didn't know how to find God. You had to come all the way from America to tell me how to find God through Jesus Christ. This is the happiest day in my life."

Needless to say, she prayed and became one happy Christian.

The lesson I learned: there are two billion people in our world that have never heard the name of Jesus and there are millions of them who are just waiting for someone to come and tell them.