An Instrument in His Hands
By Rachel Hunter ‘28
I had been living in Chile for around nine months when I met Bernarda—a woman radiant with light and goodness. She was a member of the congregation where I served as a missionary and participated in worship and Scripture study with quiet devotion, though it wasn’t always easy for her. Bernarda was deaf and had only learned Chilean Sign Language a few years earlier.
The other members of the congregation were kind to her, but because they did not know sign language, meaningful conversation was often out of reach. I felt for Bernarda’s struggle to connect and wished more people made an effort to consider her needs and include her. Having two brothers with special needs, I had witnessed their lifelong struggle for inclusion. Bernarda’s situation was different from my brothers’, but I recognized her quiet distress—and through prayer, I felt God impress upon my heart that I could do something to help.
In the weeks that followed, I began spending my free time learning common signs in Chilean Sign Language. When we next spoke at church, Bernarda’s eyes lit with joy, even though our conversation was simple. During the women’s Sunday study class—which had always been difficult for her to follow without her husband present to translate—I offered a basic translation of the other women’s comments. Though my knowledge of the language was limited, God magnified my ability. I found myself remembering signs I hadn’t consciously studied, and they flowed from my hands with ease.
I will never forget the look on her face when she realized I was trying to translate for her—and that she understood me. Joyous disbelief shone in her eyes, and gratitude radiated from her smile.
After witnessing Bernarda’s happiness that day, several of the sisters signed up for a sign language course so she could continue to understand and feel welcome. Soon after, I was assigned to a different congregation, but the Spirit confirmed in my heart that I had done what God had sent me there to do. I had been an instrument in His hands—helping one of His daughters feel His love and concern for her.
An instrument in His hands: offering my talents, my experiences, and my whole self to God for Him to use in His work. After all, that was why I had come to Chile in the first place.
After my freshman year at Harvard, I took a leave of absence to serve as a missionary for eighteen months in Rancagua, Chile. I had always carried a deep faith in God and tried to follow the example of Jesus Christ in both word and deed. I knew that everything I had—my time, my mind, and my will—had been given to me by Him. In gratitude, I wanted to offer something back. So I resolved to dedicate a period of my life entirely to His service, to share the faith He had shaped within me, and to follow wherever He led.
Often, God calls us—but we must first have the desire to listen in order to hear His voice.
While serving as a missionary in Chile, I had the opportunity to meet many wonderful people like Bernarda, who loved God and whose faithful humility inspired me to consecrate myself more fully to Him. I met people who had fled poverty and dangerous situations to come to Chile, and the trust they placed in the Lord and His plan was palpable, inspiring me to trust God with the uncertainties of my own life. I met men and women who had never known God, and seeing the joy that came into their lives as they came to love and follow Him was extraordinary. Yet just as God blessed my life tenfold with all of the people I met, so also He used me to bless their lives as well. Every morning, I prayed with my fellow missionary that we could be instruments in God’s hands and be directed to those who needed God that day. As we acted in faith, we saw miracles.
In the simplest of interactions, God used me to deliver messages. He knew what each person had been praying or yearning for. One day, by chance, we met a man in the street who had long battled addiction. We taught him how to pray to his Father in Heaven, and through that prayer, he encountered his Savior. In another instance, the Spirit led us to a family who had just arrived in Chile with nothing but the clothes on their backs—God had wanted to tell them that He had not forgotten them. We offered small acts of kindness and service to a woman struggling to raise her children after a terrible divorce, and through us, God showed her that He was helping her carry her heavy burdens.
We touched life at its suffering—we cried with strangers through their pain. Yet in the midst of it all, I could testify with my whole heart that Christ had taken upon Himself their sins, and their grief was seen and understood.
Was I inadequate for such a holy mission? Yes—completely. But I was willing, and I was trying, so God accepted my offering and multiplied it. Just as Christ fed the 5,000 with two loaves and five fish, so God took my imperfect Spanish, sometimes crippling anxiety, homesickness, devastating fatigue, and inadequacy to show me that His power is made perfect even in weakness. He brought me to people who needed to hear how I had learned to rely on Him through deep anxiety. When I missed my family, thousands of miles away, He led me to others who also had loved ones with disabilities. As I shared God’s immense love for them, I felt closer to my own family. And when I continued to serve despite exhaustion, God strengthened me beyond my natural capacity.
When serving others, we are serving God, helping Him in His work. Yet it is a miracle that in self-giving, He returns our gifts a hundredfold.
Starting back at Harvard, my mission will be different from what it was in Chile. But I trust that as I strive to live as a disciple of Christ and continue to give God all I am, He will use me in wonderful ways wherever I am. When we give our efforts to God with faith, He magnifies our imperfect strivings and turns our deficiencies into beautiful opportunities. We are made instruments in His hands, not through our merits, but through His.
Contributed by Rachel Hunter. Rachel is a sophomore at Harvard College studying History & Spanish.
