Visiting Ana

Yesterday, Eli and I went with Redemta to visit Ana. Ana is one of the widows in our congregation. She has a rough life. Her husband died last year and she lost one arm in a car accident, making simple tasks difficult, especially when she lives alone without help.

I noticed Ana hadn't been in church for the last couple weeks and asked Redemta about it. Turns out she has been sick. Redemta was planning to visit her and invited me to go along. Eli and I met Redemta at church and walked to Ana's house. Redemta said her house wasn't far so I didn't think bringing Eli would be a problem. Well, I should have known. One lesson I have learned is most African's estimate of time and distance is much different than ours.

Once I was in Nairobi with some people we worked with in Sudan. We had been at the racetrack and walked to a “nearby” mall. Don't worry, we weren't gambling at the races. There was a Christmas Fair going on and some of us finished early and decided to walk back. Margaret, a nurse from Sierra Leone said the mall wasn't far. An hour and a half later, we finally made it. I still tease Margaret about that to this day.

Another thing people say here ALL THE TIME and it drives me crazy is “I'm coming.” That can mean ten minutes or five hours. You call for an update on their location and they say “I'm coming.” In the US, you would expect them to arrive soon. In Africa, they could still be at the market, then go home to cook lunch, stop by someone's house and then come to meet you. They aren't lying. They are coming... eventually!

So when Redemta said Ana's house wasn't far, I should have known to question her more. It really wasn't far. If far means from here to Kenya. Maybe it just seemed far because we were carrying a 22 pound weight named Eli. Anyway... traded off carrying him and found Ana outside her house. She didn't know we were coming and was quite surprised to see us.

We really had a lovely visit with Ana. She has been dealing with malaria, pneumonia and some leg pain. She has missed being at church and was so happy we were visiting. As with all women here who are amazing hosts, she rushed to give us tea. Most people can’t afford milk so I have learned to drink tea black when necessary. She felt bad she didn’t have more for us. I assured her, the tea was enough.

Ana lives in a tiny two room house. It has a sitting area and a bedroom. She showed me her husband’s grave just outside her house. I filled her in on what we had been talking about in class and told her to read the story of Mary and Martha to prepare as we discuss resting in the Lord.

She shared how difficult life had been recently, but praised God for being with her through it all. When her husband died, her house didn’t have a cement floor or windows in place. She prayed for help and someone gave her money to do those things and she as very thankful. Despite the hardship and tragedy, she has seen God’s faithfulness.

Throughout our visit, Eli was an angel. He played contently and put on a show of his new talents: play screaming and talking and flinging his arms around. Ana commented on how big he is and said we better watch out when he starts walking.

As the time for us to leave approached, Redemta and I talked about how Eli and I would get home. There was someone who could give us a ride. Since he was new to us, I wanted to make sure it was ok with George. I called George, who said it was ok with him. I didn’t realize Ana had been paying attention to me. Redemta translated for her so she knew what I was doing. She told me that she was touched that I called George. She said God has given me great wisdom and what I did told her I respected my husband very much. She said it was very encouraging because many women don’t consult their husband on things. She claimed I was a good example to her and proclaimed that was our lesson of the day (referring to our class).

I didn’t know a simple phone call could have such a big impact. I check with George on just about everything. We are a team and he, especially, knows better than I do about matters related to our safety here.

Before we left, we prayed for her, thanking God for helping her to feel better and asking Him to heal her completely. Hopefully we’ll see Ana at church on Sunday if she is feeling better. I loved seeing where she lived and getting to know her better. It was a really nice day.