Widows and Orphans

James 1;27- Religion that God our Father accept as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneslef from being polluted by the world..

Last night I went to bed, tired, and just prayed one simple prayer: "God, please show me how I can reach out to the widows and orphans here" -- In Canada, Ive thought of "orphans' as young people who lack solid family structures and need supportive relationships and a lot of love. I don't really know any widows, and just try to love people wherever I can. Here, where extended families make up a complex social safety net and poverty runs deep into the fabric of society, I suspect things are deffined a bit different, and widows and orphans exist in different ways with different needs.

This morning I came down early for breakfast- so I could read that verse in James and spend some quiet time sipping nescafe and journaling. My homestay Grandma came out to join me and I said "Grandma, what are you doing today?" "oh" she says. "I am a widow, and two of my friends who are also widows started an NGO to reach out to some widows and orphans in a nearby villiage. We are teaching the widows to sew and farm so they can sustain themselves, and are sending the children to school. Today we have a meeting for that."

God is so good. Sometimes I am shocked and awed by how amazingly well he answers our prayers.