As a missionary, often you receive gifts and honors that were never sought nor earned. These gifts come from people who don’t have much, but they gift it to you freely from some deep place in their heart. Their gift and your appreciation of it means the world to them and to you, and as such it becomes a very special bond between both of you and that time and place. The treasure eventually finds itself sitting alongside other treasures that you keep close to yourself. In the picture there are two boxes. The box with the Bama A was given to me by my daughter when she was just a little girl. I keep foreign coins in it, and it has sat on every desk I have used since Han gave it to me.
The grey box was given to me by a beautiful a lady in a slum in Kampala, Uganda. I met her the day I was going to visit and interview Manna recipients with Vincent Nzasenga. She was such a beautiful and smart lady. Her story is this: As she was learning to save the money she would have used to buy food in order to start a business, she thought that all the rest of the people in her group would need a safe place to store their savings, so she had the idea to find wood and make saving boxes and sell them to those that were in her group. Her idea was a success. By the time Manna had ended for her, she had used the profits she made from the sell of those little boxes to build and sell small chicken coops, and she no longer had to sell herself to earn meals for her children. I was interviewing her about a year after she completed the program, and her business had grown to the point she was making and selling small tables and chairs. She even employed several local men who made the furniture for her now.
At one point in the interview, she began asking me questions. She asked about my family. She noticed my gray beard and thought I was very old and asked my age. I told her, and she began thinking. After a while she sent her employee, who is in the picture, to bring me two boxes. She handed them to me, and told me that I needed to save money to take care of my family after I die. I tried to pay for them, but she wouldn’t let me. She explained, my family would need its contents after I die.
I don’t know how COVID 19 has affected that dear lady’s business and livelihood, but I know it has. The resulting lockdowns from the pandemic have hit Africans very hard. We have been fortunate that God prompted many people to give extra to the IMFC this year which has enabled us to help literally thousands of people in ways that we have never had to do before. If you were one of them - thank you very much. Pandemic Relief is now a part of next year’s budget, but we could use some help completing the budget. If after praying you feel compelled to help provide some relief we would encourage you to click on the button below. Thank you for your response. God speed and God bless.
Steve D