She has sparkles in her eyes...

The ABC woman I am going to share with you about today has touched my life in ways I hope I never forget…

She is just shy if 50 years old, and wears her love for God on her sleeve.

The first day I came to ABC, and was introduced to her she gave me the most warm and heartfelt greeting. :) She smiled, thanked God for my arrival and did a little skip and dance and hummed away to herself. I had a feeling I was going to really like her.

I have gotten her story in bits and pieces, so I am sure there is more to tell, but I will do my best.

She grew up in the western province of Rwanda in a poor family of four children. Like many in her area, she did not go to school, as her family could not afford it. Rice was too expensive for them, and they ate a root from the ground we have no word for in English, because we wouldn’t consider it food…

Her parents were not Christians and were involved in witchcraft. Occasionally would attend Sunday School as something to do. At the age of 23, she got married to a poor and non-believer husband, yet it was difficult for them to earn their livings. She gave birth to four children- three boys and one girl and the cycle of poverty living continued...

I don’t know much about the early years of her marriage. In 1994 however, she lost two of her boys, and her daughter in the genocide. Her husband was involved in many of the killings and pillagings. He died as well during that same year, but after the genocide, in December.

She became separated from her fourth son, and who lives in the Congo now.

In 1995, she came to know Jesus as her savior, and turned from the ways of witchcraft that had left her so hopeless. She began traveling and discipling- sharing God’s message, as well as her testimony. She knew that with the life that she had, what mattered most was sharing the hope that she had found.

Around this time, she learned through medical testing that she was HIV positive. She developed a skin disease and became very weak. She continued to travel through the villages, often visiting weddings uninvited, just to gather the rice from the ground to bring home and cook. To this day, every lunchtime when we have rice, she eats it so thankfully, with a smile on her face and says it is a gift straight from God. :)

In 2009, her journeys brought her to Kigali, and through visiting churches she was connected to the Hope Group. This is a group that gives counsel, hope, discipleship, and work through making paper beads to people with HIV/AIDS. While she was in this group, Robin (ABC director whom I am “subbing” for) was seeking more women for the training center. This lady was put on the list for an interview.

During this time, she had grown so weak and frail. Her skin was mottled, and she had to leave for medical care. She was admitted to the hospital for one month coming very close to death. Her health slowly improved and she returned to ABC and was accepted into the training center. Her skin has slowly cleared, and she thanks God for this healing.

This lady has many gifts of the Spirit. One of the most profound being her ability to read the Bible. She had no schooling, and no formal teaching. However, due to her prayers and her passion to get the truth, she is now able to read scriptures, but has difficulty reading anything else… She (and I) consider this a miracle from God.

Every morning when we do devotions and I see her bent over the Word with dedication, I realize how many times in my life I have taken my ability and accessibility to know and to read for granted, and haven’t always embraced the treasure God has given us in the Word… It is such a gift…

In the mornings during our shop devotions time we ask for praises and prayer requests. She has always been quick to offer praises to God for his protection and provision. She is regularly singing and praising God for things I consider so “basic” throughout the day. It’s amazing, and has taught me much... 

There was an echo I was hearing in her requests for prayer. She would regularly pray to have a larger home. While I haven’t been to visit her home yet, I hear that she lives in a one room mud hut, no electricity or running water. She has a bowl, a spoon, a mattress, and a little charcoal stove as her provisions. She wants to be hospitable, to care for people in need, yet she says it is hard, because when she welcomes visitors, she is forced to sleep outside in the dirt… (As a 50 year old woman with AIDS mind you…)

It was heavy on my heart to do something, but it’s hard to justify a gift to one lady, when there’s a whole shop full of women in dire situations. I chose to pray on it and be patient…

Well, God began to move the pieces together…

Every month the ladies get paid a stipend, and have a counseling session with Robin (now me) and Charlotte- the manager- who translates. I learn about the difficulty these women have to budget their stipend, and also learn of various loans, thefts, other employment etc that desperate women will partake in to make more money.

The lady I am writing of today has the lowest rent of all of the ladies.  When I met with her on September 1, I asked her how she does with budgeting her money. She explained that the day she gets paid, she goes to the bank, and deposits half, and lives off of the other half.

Woah.

This was different from every other story I’d heard from the ladies. “Savings” is not a way that they operate. I commended her for her actions, and went on with the sessions.

A couple of weeks later, I was doing errands with Charlotte and we were brainstorming ways to improve the ladies understanding of money management. I mentioned offhandedly how impressed I was with this one lady’s commitment to save…

Charlotte then enlightened me as to more of her story…

She told me that the money that she is putting in the bank is to pay off a debt. As I mentioned prior, her husband was one of the Hutu killers in the genocide. He killed and pillaged (along with thousands of other men).

By the time various atrocities were brought to trial, her husband was dead, yet one of the "pillagings" he was apart of was one of the trials. The verdict was the any living relative was in charge of the debt.

This poverty stricken lady got hit with a 200,000frw debt. Only $333 to us- but when you consider she makes about $50 a month- you get the picture (At the time she had no work). 

She got hired by ABC shortly after praised God, believing it God's provision to help her with this cost. Over time she has put away 140,000frw, which is HUGE for someone with her pay. She has been grateful and unassuming…

Yet, all along, she has been aging, suffering from AIDS, could really use a better living situation, etc. 

Immediately as Charlotte told me this, I felt the nudge of God to bless her with some of the money you all have donated for my time here. I thought- of ALL people- she is hard working, responsible, has made IMMENSE sacrifices as an innocent, paying off something she wasn't apart of, and loving God with all her heart in the midst of it… I trusted her… I know your prayers for me have helped me to be sensitive to promptings like this… Thank you…

So, I decided that I would give it to her at "stipend time" October 1- to make less of a "big deal" about it- and to keep other ladies from asking questions and being aware.

I traded money at the bank last week, however, to have it.

Well, One day this week, after having to meet with two other ladies over a theft that had occurred, I felt a nudge I believe was from God, and told Charlotte I wanted to talk to this other lady, and give her the money.

We called her in, and I explained to her how blessed I have been to know her, how impressed I am with her dedication and wisdom in paying off this debt, and how I truly believed that God wanted her to experience some relief here at the end of her payments- and that my family and church family was providing her with the final 60,000frw ($100). 

I tear as I type because she was so gracious. She shared her praise to God for it, and how just LAST WEEK, the men had approached her at her home, and told her it had been such a long time they were going to ask her to sell her land to finish the payments. She had been praying about what she was going to do. She said it was a direct answer to her prayer. And also, the night prior she had a sweet dream that she was in a nicer home. :)

As you all made this possible, through your prayers, and financial sacrifices that allow me to be here- I thought this was a story I needed to share.

This is one of the ladies that makes the hard days worth it. Yesterday (Friday) she took the day off to travel out west to pay off the remainder of the debt. While I’ve left her name as anonymous, God knows, and if you pray for this lady with sparkles in her eyes, who has had so many barriers to an “easy” life, I know they will be heard, and she will be blessed.

I guarantee God has a special name for her in heaven…