So my team and our sister team are back in Saiphai living with the same family we were before. The father of this family is the brother of the headmaster at the school so we live at his house along with his wife, 13-year-old son(Emmanuel), and 9 and 5-year-old daughters. The other day Emmanuel and I were playing badminton in the road when I saw his mother Julie come sit out on the front of the porch with two huge buckets of potatoes and started to peel them. Before I even get started I want to tell you how amazing Julie is. She cooks for 18 people every day 3 times a day. She speaks no English, raises three children, and is constantly working. She even cooks up some fried things for her kids to sell to the school and make money for themselves. Whenever we are not here, she goes around town and does whatever she can do to earn money to help provide for her children. She works so amazingly hard for us, I thought the least I could do would be to help her peel some potatoes.
I took Emmanuel with me so he could help me talk to her because he speaks really good English, not to mention like 4 other languages. We began to have small conversations, she asked me about my family and I would ask her about where she grew up. Then I asked her about her testimony and how she came to know Jesus. She told me that in her life it is impossible to not know God because of all he has done for them. Whenever there is not enough food on the table she prayed and the Lord provides. Her love for Jesus is what keeps her going through all the trials and things she must over come with having three kids and living in India.
I was on my second potato now and my hand was starting to cramp. It astonished me that she was going to do two whole bags all by her self. She then asked me to pray for her eye sight. It has been going blurry for a while now and she believes that the power of Jesus can make her see clearly. I prayed over her in English which I’m sure she could not understand but God knew and she knew that. After that, Emmanuel and I talked some more and we talked to her through him. She told me things about our teams and the people on them and I was truly shocked that she had paid that much attention to us. It seems like she never has a moment to breath but she took the time to know our names and show us love in many ways.
If you are reading this, please take a moment to pray for Julie. Pray for her eyesight and that the Lord will give her strength physical to continue to serve her family and the Lord. Pray financial blessings over that family along with peace and a hunger for God.
