God’s Intervention for a malnourished Mom.

Last week we had an amazing opportunity as good friends who serve on a medic team were visiting us.  It gave us a chance to meet with moms and ask them about health issues that may be concerning them.

A couple of the benefits of this time was that there were many gaps filled in about some of the mom’s stories, and we also could come up with a plan about how to better serve their basic needs. It was astounding to hear all that they have come through, yet they have continued to express a degree of joy despite that pain.

One young woman we interviewed stands out to me.  This mom is new to the project. She is a stunning 19 year old, incredibly positive, intelligent and has a beautiful smile – one of those types that lights up the room.

We started the interview by asking if she was experiencing any health problems.  She replied, “Yes, I have been having epileptic seizures.”  My first thought was of how difficult this must be to be an impoverished mom with a young baby with no access to medical care who is experiencing epilepsy.  At times it just doesn’t seem fair.

Fortunately, we kept probing…

My friend started to ask questions about frequency and duration and what she was experiencing during these episodes.   As the questions continued, we came to a startling conclusion.  These epileptic episodes were not epilepsy at all.  Rather, this mom was experiencing dizziness and fainting, however the only language she had to describe it was epilepsy.

The reason for her dizziness and fainting?   She was going for days at a time without ANY food at all.  When she came to the project a week before she had not been working.  This meant that she had no money for food and no one who was providing her with food.  She would go without eating for days at a time and then would become very dizzy, faint and when she came to wonder what had happened.   This had been going on for some time.  She was severely malnourished herself while still trying to find nutrition for her baby.  Imagine being in the room with this mom as it was explained to her that the issue was not epilepsy, but rather was the fact that her body was shutting down because she had no food.

As she sat with us, a beautiful young woman with a smile that filled her face, it was hard to believe that here was a young woman with many years in front of her who had a 9th grade education, YET was suffering from real hunger right before our eyes.  How can that be possible?  She would never think of asking for anything or complaining about her situation.   She had no support, no family, no voice and little hope.

We are grateful that God opened up this meeting where we could learn on a deeper level about the needs of this Mom.  He used a simple medical screening of “Where does it hurt” to allow us inside this Moms world for long enough to figure out how we can make a difference in her life while sharing Jesus’ mercy and compassion in action.

Now, her child is settled into the project, getting healthy and becoming nourished.  And, now this mom is also joining us daily for lunch while we also provide other nutritional supports to her, helping her to become well enough that she can start working and moving toward sustainability.

We are reminded of how deeply God cares for this young woman…and we are grateful that we get to play a small part in partnering with her so that she can have hope that there will be food for today as well as even greater hope for the future.

Please pray for her and for us as we continue to express God’s love to her in word and deed.

Please also pray for the many other Moms we parter with daily…and consider joining us in partnering with them through family sponsorships and spreading the word.