She’s a single mother with eight children.
She sells sweet potatoes for a living.
She sells sweet potatoes for a living.
She slaves in her hut for 12 hours a day in between chasing screaming children.
She has one of the most gorgeous smiles I’ve ever seen.
And she captured my heart.
I met her during our first day of door-to-door evangelism. She was shy at first and reluctant to hear my story. In my heart I somehow knew that she would be different from all the other people to whom I’d minister during this past month. There was something….special….about her that tugged at my heartstrings.
I shared my [God-given] story with her and she asked questions. She asked lots of questions. She was so intrigued by what God has done in my life. Her smile brightened as I shared the hope that Christ offers. She was so happy.
At the end of the day we went back to her small sweet potato hut and bought potatoes from her. What I thought was a one time deal turned into us walking the 20 minute trek every day for 3 weeks buying sweet potatoes, bananas, avocados, and a mat from her.
She continuously told us how much we were blessing her, but I cannot begin to tell you the ways she and her beautiful family blessed my heart.
Her name is Daisy. I’ll always remember her smile because it’s so contagious. No matter our mood, when we went to visit her, we were instantly greeted with a smile and that made our day(s).
Every day we bought potatoes from her and then passed them out to her children. They rarely received a treat like that, and as they knelt to the ground to thank us, our hearts leapt for joy. It was a simple act, one we rarely thought twice about, but to those beautiful children it made their entire day.
One day she thanked me and told me how much she felt loved by my act(s) of kindness. Immediately I reassured her that we loved her because CHRIST loves her, we bought potatoes from her because CHRIST would have done the same. It wasn’t our acts of kindness: it was CHRIST through us. We were just bringing His light to her. This strong, independent, hardworking woman started to cry. She isn’t a Christian, and she told me that day that she was so close to becoming born again because of the way we presented Christ and she wanted His love.
I didn’t have the honor of witnessing the Kingdom receive another daughter, but I know that one day she’ll spend eternity with us. I am confident of this.
A few days before we left she expressed to me that no one had ever truly loved her the way we had. It broke my heart to hear and motivated me to love EVERY individual the way I had loved her—showing Christ’s love.
On the morning of our last day in Wobulenzi Jeremy and I walked to her hut dreading saying “goodbye” to her. As per the usual, upon our arrival all the neighborhood kids ran to us with open arms and slammed themselves in our embrace. They are always so full of joy. We could stand to take a lesson or two from them. They grabbed our hands and slowly guided us to the potatoes, eager, I’m sure, to relish in the days’ treat. I lingered, not wanting our time to end. In her mind, that was probably the last time she’ll ever see us. We made small talk, bought some potatoes, and took pictures.
We gathered the family and prayed for them. The kids knew what was coming; they weren’t willing to let go of our hands. Still they smiled.
As we waved our last goodbye and started to walk away, the children followed, closely at first and then slower until they were far behind. As Jeremy and I turned the corner, I couldn’t contain my tears any longer. The streamed down my face. I didn’t want to leave this precious family. They made my month. They made my Race.
