Meet Florence!

I want to introduce you to a beautiful woman a had the privilege of meeting and spending time with. 

Her name is Florence. 

She is 1 of 50 precious widows we work with. She is one of five wives that her husband married; however, she was unable to bare children. She has been living alone for quite some time and now with her current condition, it only makes things a bit more difficult. Pastor Paul was notified about her situation and he planned visit with her, while I was in Mawanga, to discuss what options there were. (side note: Pastor Paul receives phone calls almost on a daily basis regarding a widow, child, caretaker, or individual who is in urgent need of assistance).

I was informed that she was having severe stomach pains that were due to a probable hernia. We drove to her house and when we arrived we were surprised to hear she was not there, but she was on her way to the clinic. We quickly rerouted ourselves and made it to the clinic a few minutes before she did. We watched as she slowly walked toward us with each step sending shooting pain through her body. She was hurting and needed relief. After being examined by one of the local staff members at Mawanga clinic we sat outside to discuss with Florence and the nurse. From what we could understand, Florence has been dealing with not only a possible hernia (causing the most pain), but also Malaria and even being anemic. She also shared with us her lack of food and water, which on top of everything, doesn’t give her much strength.

So again, with a similar situation like the one with Hadijah, I didn’t know what to do or say. I looked at her weak body with heavy eyes, just wishing there was a way to relieve some of the pain. I turned to Pastor Paul and asked him “so what do we do?” He graciously smiled at me and said, “this is what we go through every day here. We listen, counsel, and pray with them. Then try to figure out some solution (if there is any).  It’s a constant thing in the village.  You can see how so many people die [because they lack basic needs].”

I walked away with Pastor Paul with my heart heavy. ‘How is this okay? How can I sit with a woman like Florence, listen to her, watch her grimace in pain, pray over her, and then walk away?’ Sometimes it's unbearable. Sometimes I wish there was a better clinic in Mawanga to provide suitable care for woman like Florence, but the reality is there isn’t. There isn’t much medical care available in Mawanga, but maybe someday..Lord willing!

Pray for Florence. Pray for relief. Pray for funds to provide the health care she needs before it gets worse. Pray for all the widows who deal with the daily challenges of life in the village... 

Here is a little message from Pastor Paul: