Who Touched Me? 
By Judi Chow

I don’t know if you have experienced walking through a street so crowded where people pressing against you. Come to Hong Kong and you will have a taste of "people-mountain, people-sea." Recently I found myself giving the look to people whom stopped suddenly in front of me. This might be an indication that I have fully adapted to the Hong Kong culture where everyone is always in a hurry. I don't bother to see the people stopping were receiving a phone call, resting their feet, or figuring out where they were going. My concern was somebody is blocking me and I was in a hurry. I also get irritated when people pressing against my back when waiting in line; I can smell their sweat. I don't like it when strangers touched me accidentally or intentionally; I needed my personal space. Yet, I remembered long ago, a stranger, a woman, in the crowd intentionally touched Jesus. (Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, or Luke 8:43-48)

She was in a desperate situation.
He has the power to heal her.
     She reached out and touched Him.
He felt a release of power.
     She was cured immediately.
He asked, "Who touched me?"
     She was fearful and trembling.
He kept looking for her
     She fell at His feet and told her story.
He called her, daughter.

It was a brief exchange, but that encounter with Jesus changed that woman’s life forever. I wondered why would the omniscience (all knowing) Lord ask this question: who touched me? After all, Jesus was on His way to help a dying girl! That woman just wanted an anonymous healing, but Jesus took the time and made it personal. By asking a simple question: who touched me? Jesus gave her a choice, almost like an invitation to come forward to hear Him called her daughter. In the midst of "people-mountain, people-sea," Jesus calling her with such intimacy, acknowledging her faith, granting her not only physical healing but spiritual satisfaction as well. If this is not the personal relationship Jesus offers, what is?

As a missionary, how can I counteract this hurry, busy, crowding culture and be sensitive enough to know those around me are in need? In the midst of "people-mountain, people-sea," how can I learn to ask appropriate and sensitive questions so that I can develop a personal relationship with the one in need? How can I… instead of putting myself in Jesus’ shoes wanting to help others, maybe I should place myself in that woman’s shoes to see if I needed healing? Maybe I should reach out and touch Jesus to see if I can hear Him asking: daughter, did you touch me?