ladies

I had just exchanged smiles and hellos with her once or twice when another neighbor told me her story:   

"She was pregnant last month with her third child.  You know her youngest now is only about one year old, so the government would never allow her to have another so close, and certainly not a third child.  She wanted to keep the baby, hide her pregnancy, hide the child, but she was too afraid that she would be found.  So she had an abortion.  Then, just days later, the police came to her home and took her husband.   She was overcome with grief- now loosing her husband, the only income earner- and she felt shame and fear that this was God's judgement against her for killing her baby.  She's been deeply distraught these two weeks...."

Then this morning, a new friend said to me, "I heard that you have sometimes like to have a friend help you cook food in your home.  Do you want to hire a lady now?"

Literally it was on my way down the stairs, just moments before, that I had thought "How can I help her?"  I hadn't thought of this... but apparently the Lord did. The very lady I've been praying for will be starting work in our home tomorrow.  

Until recently, I had two ladies come for a total of three two-hour stretches in our home.  Such grace to have their help- to speak Uyghur with them in our home and to have help to make salsa, spaghetti sauce,  or make a local dish for a meal to share.  But both of them, in the past month or so, have become afraid of being associated with foreigners.  Both of them changed their phone numbers and wouldn't let me know their new numbers and then they both got busy and couldn't come.   Many friends have seemed to push back from wanting to be in contact or visit with foreigners.  

When my helpers first cancelled on me I took it as a major downer, a low, sad spot of being unwanted and unwelcomed here and "what's the good of us being here?" kind of thoughts.  I didn't see it then, but my days surprisingly and suddenly became more open for language study time.... And now this dear lady can come!  As often as she can!  To chat with me and be a language helper to me, and ok, she can cook for us (it's not something we really love, eating more local food, but it's worth it for this case!)  

Please pray for Rita*.... that she would know the peace of Christ, that she would see God caring for and providing for her, and that she and her family would trust in Him and His Word to make it through this very hard time.