by Karen
The village women had the wonderful idea of holding their meetings in various villages with the local member serving as hostess. Brilliant women! I cannot express the heartfelt warmth in being among these friends. For the most part we don’t share the same language, the same lifestyles, the same family structures, but rest assured, we share the same Jesus! These women have bonded with one another and been able to offer support and care. I again called on the story of Lazarus for hope!
These women each learned to tell the story in their own language and practiced with each other. We were able to help them make the connections to the death and resurrection of Jesus and equip them to tell others! Some loud and full of laughter, some quiet and full of peace, these women overcome daily obstacles that I cannot even imagine.
We had time to share our gratitude for what God was doing in our lives. Their stories were an encouragement to my soul. One woman expressed the great blessing of having six children who were all alive; this is a rarity in Salone. Every other woman in the group had lost at least one child. Another woman share of her fervent prayer over a hernia that was bothering her son and the rejoicing when it was healed. Still another shared of the loss of a close relative who left children with neither parent. She claimed the power of God when they somehow connected with a distant relative who was able to send school fees for the children. I had to sit and wonder if I could see God at work in the way they did living in such difficult circumstances. It is certainly a challenge to me.
We also had a great time making t-shirt yarn rugs with crochet hooks that Rainny and I had carved from sticks! They LOVE a good project, especially when it makes something useful. This is a skill they can also replicate with the materials available to them, though they don’t have my pocked knife for carving hooks!
