33 weeks now – only 7 left before this woman’s child will make his or her appearance in this world. She struggles through the daily grind, carrying so much more than that of her unborn baby.
Washing clothes for people is the way this woman supports her family of 3 – soon 4- and making only $5 a week doing so. Her husband lies in her small one room mud brick “house” on a mattress – the only one in the home and made of grass. He is paralyzed and on Fridays she helps to get him to the local mosque to beg.
“Friday is a good day” they tell us – “Muslims are generous.”
Her littlest child has little food to eat and she worries about their future. How will she support another baby in 7 weeks time?
Her back aches from bending over the huge tub that she fills with water which she has carried in large, heavy jerry cans.
She is tired but manages a smile and invites us into her home.
Her doula visits regularly to encourage and support her and a recent ultra sound indicated there are no seen problems with her child, despite the poor nutrition she has had throughout her pregnancy.
We bring spinach, chard, potatoes, onions, cabbage and fruit. Enough for a few meals but soon realize, as we see a rat scamper across the floor, that there is no hygienic way of storing the food to keep it from the critters that inhabit their already tiny space. There is no fridge or lockable cupboard or plastic tub. Only a small bench and a grass mattress and the mud brick walls.
If you feel prompted to be Christ to this Muslim woman this Christmas, there’s no time like the present.
In His,
Christ’s Servants at DHI