The last day of a mission trip is always an emotional day filled with mixed emotions. This was no exception. As much as we love being with the kids and hated to say goodbye, three of us ladies (Nancy, Missy and I) really wanted to have some special time with the AIDS widows at Homecare who meet on Friday. So we opted to spend the last day with them and left the rest of our teammates to finish out the camp with the teens.
Every Friday Homecare Fellowship has a special day with the AIDS widows in their ministry to come and spend time together cooking, praying, worshiping, and “just being” together. Despite the huge numbers suffering from HIV/AIDS, there is still great stigma placed on anyone found to be HIV positive, and these women have been ostracized by their community in many ways. It can be a very lonely existence for them, and having a place to come and be ministered to has brought new life for them.
These meals are especially important for these women; the antiretroviral drugs that many take are so powerful, and without food, can kill, as has happened to several of the women in the group. They found that if they had even one good meal a week, it could make all the difference in their survival and quality of life. Each of these women also cares for a number of children, and when food is scarce, they feed the children rather than themselves. Noble, but if they neglect themselves, the children will have no one to care for them, so these weekly meetings have brought physical, emotional and spiritual strength and healing to all of them.
As we met with them that day, we enjoyed just being with them, sharing our lives, and being encouragers. We got to help chop up greens and prepare food, exchanging “woman talk” as we worked in their outdoor tent/kitchen. Again, we are reminded that “women are women” around the world, no matter how different our circumstances and cultures may be. While the food simmered over the wood fire stove, Nancy shared a wonderful devotional with everyone about Jesus’ encounters with several women in the Bible, illustrating how He loves and cares for women. We then got to do something that I have never done before, but had wanted to do for some time: wash their feet. It was the most precious time!! The Lord had prompted me some time ago to do this for these women, and He had also given the same thought to Nancy and Missy, so we knew it was His plan. These women who are so shunned and ostracized are not used to being noticed, served, or loved. It was such an honor and a humbling experience to gently wash their feet and lovingly rub lotion over each one. We had the chance to pray specifically with each woman, and it was an experience none of us will forget. These are our sisters; they suffer greatly and persevere with such courage, and it is a joy to stand with them. We were saddened to learn that one of the ladies who was not there that day because she had been ill went to be with the Lord the next day. Unfortunately, this is an all too common experience and death comes so quickly here. But they could rejoice knowing that Millicent knew the Lord, and we can be confident that she is with Him, no longer ill and weak, but fully healed and alive!
This was a day to cherish; it drove home what really matters in life: loving, serving, connecting, just as the Lord intended for our time on earth because He first loved us. And that is what is such a privilege about ministering to others; we continue to learn more about loving, caring, serving, and experiencing Jesus in every aspect of life, for to know Him is life itself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment