I Learned to Be With You

Me with birthday girl Tringa whose names means Tinkerbell

 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27  

The more time that I spend with the widows that are in the MP program I am just amazed.  I am amazed by their courage, their strength, sacrifice and perseverance.

It is hard enough to be a widow in  western culture but the culture here is such that they will most likely never have the opportunity to marry again.  If a widow chooses to re-marry she expected to leave her kids with her husbands family.  No one will want to remarry her and take her kids as step children because that would interfere with the family land inheritances. So consequently we have some widows who are younger than me and yet will   continue as single Mom’s the rest of their lives. Work here is not an option for these ladies because there are not enough jobs to go around for the men let alone the women.  Then there is the question of who would care for the children.  These women will continue on as they are with a little help from the government, assistance from Mercy Projects and the church here until their sons are old enough to work and provide for the family.

Recently we were invited to one of these families to celebrate their daughter’s 7th birthday.  When Nela and I arrived the house was full of ladies, grandma, aunties and cousins.  One of the women, the deceased man’s sister, greeted us with tears in her eyes. Often times when the families watch the kid’s hitting milestones they think about how the father is missing those precious moments.

While we were waiting for dinner to be served Nela and I were talking with one of the nieces who can speak English.  Nela and her were able to get into a discussion about the differences between Islam and Christianity.  A discussion that the girl started.  We are thankful for these small open doors.

Please keep these families in your prayers.  Life is difficult for these women and they often still grieve their husbands and all that they will not see as the kids grow up. I am reminded of a phrase that people will say here sometimes, “Kam mësuar me ty” which means something like “I learned to be with you.”  It is a way to express missing someone.  These Moms must learn a whole new way to live on their own. One way that I am trying to help these ladies is to give them an opportunity to sell their handicrafts.  You can support them in this endeavor by purchasing some of their handicrafts when I am speaking in your area or contact me for more info or go here.