Visiting Edita

Yesterday we went to visit a woman from our church, Edita. Edita is a faithful member of the church and attends our discipleship class and women's group. She is a tiny little lady, but full of love for the Lord. Seeing her at church, I never would have guessed the pain she has been through. A few months after getting married, her husband died suddenly, leaving her alone and pregnant. Although she had a normal delivery, the baby was born dead. These tragic events occurred a couple years ago and left her devastated. Now, she has rebounded and her life is a testimony to God's healing power. Edita exudes joy and peace.

As part of our ministry, I think it's important to become involved in the lives of the people we work with. So, I want to visit the ladies at their homes or work places. When Edita told me she cooks at a restaurant, I told her we would come to visit her. Here is the little place where she works

This is a typical type of "restaurant" or "hotel" as they call it. It's a little hole in the wall place that offers cheap food. As most hole in the wall places in the US, the food is usually the best. I had one of my favorite meals here: beans and chapatti

Eli came along, of course, and had a nice time too.

People here work so hard for survival. Edita works six days a week, early morning to late a night. The day before our visit, she didn't close until midnight. Jobs are so scarce that people take any work they can get. They work so hard and get paid so little. People can't afford to pay much for food so they can't charge a lot. My meal cost about 75 cents. George and I took some chapati for "take away" (their version of "to go") and had them for dinner.

Every now and then, Edita gets a Friday off to rest and she asked us to come to her house for lunch on her next Friday off. For her, it's an honor to have us come there and cook for us. It humbles me to see her hospitality and kindness. She hardly gets any time to rest and would rather serve us during that precious time.

Despite the long work hours and hardships of life, Edita is always happy when we see her. I know that is because she knows the Lord and finds her life's purpose and happiness in him.