Across the room, I was drawn to a woman nurturing her baby girl. As I sat down beside her, she sheepishly greeted me with a smile. Wrapped in a wool hat and layered clothing, she represented a Swazi woman in the wintertime. As I looked at her baby and the little ones around us, I noticed the babies were wearing only sweaters draped in several thick blankets.
She is a single mother who has been in this local hospital for 3 weeks now. Her precious little girl is covered with painful sores across her legs and abdomen and is severely malnourished. The little girl whimpers each time her mother checks these sores. After several failed attempts to breastfeed this little one, this single mother shares a little of how they got here.
With the baby’s father not in the picture, she longs to have her mother who lives in
South Africa by her side as she cares for her own daughter alone. Unwilling to leave her daughter’s side, this woman sleeps in a backless metal chair slumped over the crib each night. The concrete floors provide no warmth during the cold nights here. She needs a blanket so she can lie down on the floor and get a good nights rest. She is unable to purchase one for herself as she currently has no job and is tending to her sick baby.
Being a Christian for one year now, she is open to prayer for her and her baby. Her requests are needs and not wants: for the health of her baby, for a blanket to keep her warm at night, a job to help her provide for her baby, and a godly husband to raise her child with. After prayer and our goodbyes our time is up until tomorrow.
Unable to meet all her needs specifically, I am burdened to provide her a blanket. She didn’t request money just a blanket for shelter at night.
Some of Esther’s coworkers felt burdened to provide funds for some ministry projects such as this and graciously funded the blanket-thank you so much. Tues morning after purchasing the blanket I return to the lady and offered her this small token to help meet her needs. She accepts with gratitude and smiles.
I am reminded of the verses in Matthew 25:35-36, 40. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me….I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Being blessed with abundance and knowing I am serving Jesus, how could I not get her a blanket?
