A Great Day!

Tough days are common here. In this line of work, it seems like there is ALWAYS something that can and will go wrong. However, every once in awhile, a day comes along that makes every hard day seem completely worth every second of struggle. Last Thursday was just such a day.
After several days of feeling sick (we had been passing around a bug), we were mostly all feeling better. Jamie and I walked to class that morning, and more than any other day, I was awake and alert the whole class period! We read and learned and actually retained information! It was amazing!

At the end of class, we walked home, passing the house of a lady we visit with nearly every day. Her name is Rose, and her family is just precious. Rose is a widow with several children and grandchildren under her care. She is crippled and uses a hand-pedaled bicycle to move around. She helps out at the Catholic women’s development group next door to her home, but Rose doesn’t have a job. In recent weeks, she has been stuck at home because her bike is broken and the closest route to the market, church, or women’s group is flooded and too muddy to pass. Rose has patiently and sweetly encouraged us and taught us little tidbits of language over the last months, and we have enjoyed every second of our time with her!

A few weeks ago, Rose mentioned that it was very cold, and she doesn’t have a blanket. When we saw Rose on Thursday, she mentioned that there is no more food in their house, she has no money to fix her bicycle, and one of her friends at the women’s group needs money for malaria treatment. She concluded that conversation with, “I don’t have a job, and I can’t go anywhere to get one.” It was then that the light bulb went on in our minds. We had been praying for a female language tutor for months, and Rose, who had been teaching us all along and who speaks slowly and in beautiful English when necessary, needed a job.

Later that afternoon, we asked Rose if she would be interested in helping us learn the language, and she was THRILLED! She immediately began to talk about how great it is for us to learn the language and how she would be so pleased to be our teacher.

At one point during the whole conversation, it hit me that this is something we have been praying about for months. I have been requesting prayer for a female language tutor who speaks English, and we as a team have been looking for just such a person for so long! And here is one…right under our noses, who was just waiting for us to ask!

At one point, I know I saw tears in Roses’ eyes, and I began to think about how many prayers this may answer for her as well. I was so encouraged to think about how God uses different events to meet the needs of all of His children. Not only did He answer our prayer, but He is using us to meet this family’s needs. How awesome that we have such a caring God who hears all of our requests and answers them so perfectly!

So, now we have a language tutor! We will be meeting with her for a few hours a week while we are still in language school, and we will adjust that as soon as our schedules are a bit more flexible! But thank you for your prayers! They work wonders!