Day 7: Morning
Friday, noon. Written by Amanda. We've had a change of plans today. Last night, Isaac's uncle passed away, and we are moving some things around to accomodate his family. He was a follower of Christ, 75 years old, and working up until just ten days ago. The family lives in Vijayawada, a drive of about 40 minutes from here. Mary has gone to work, but is getting her day off changed. When she gets back, we'll all go to Vijayawada to see the family and view the body and give condolences. Then we'll have our shopping day today since we'll already be there. VBS will be postponed a night. We'll have lunch in Vijayawada and stay there until evening. Please pray for Isaac's family, especially with the strain of dealing with a death and burial and hosting so many guests all at the same time.
This morning a sort of traveling salesman came by selling lace. It is all handmade by widows here locally, and he kept telling us, "Dirt Cheap!". I wouldn't say dirt cheap, but it was definitely very reasonable. I think we wanted to buy from him also because he was so entertaining to interact with. He said he was 82 years old.
More interesting news from this morning: another new child came today. Her situation is similar to Mounika's. Her name is Lakshmi, and she doesn't know her age. Her mother is a fairly young widow with four children, and a member of a nearby church. The preacher at their church brought them to request admittance. The mother is in ill health and earns a little money by selling fruit at the side of a road, but as is so common here, it isn't enough to feed all four children and herself since there is no income from a husband. The girl she brought, her youngest, is maybe 11 - the mother doesn't know either. We were told that she suffers from "lack of blood" and I wondered if it might be anemia. She also has very rough, scaly skin, and the opinion of the Indians is that it's the result of poor nutrition. Who knows. Anyway, she has been admitted and already has a sponsor: the mother of one of our team members. We don't want to take on an unlimited number of children, but it is so hard for us to turn them away. I know Isaac and Rajanikanth are sort of pre-screening and do not let any requests reach us unless they already approve. I can't imagine how many children they have to say 'no' to on a daily basis. I appreciate the fact that they have not put us in that position.
This morning a sort of traveling salesman came by selling lace. It is all handmade by widows here locally, and he kept telling us, "Dirt Cheap!". I wouldn't say dirt cheap, but it was definitely very reasonable. I think we wanted to buy from him also because he was so entertaining to interact with. He said he was 82 years old.
More interesting news from this morning: another new child came today. Her situation is similar to Mounika's. Her name is Lakshmi, and she doesn't know her age. Her mother is a fairly young widow with four children, and a member of a nearby church. The preacher at their church brought them to request admittance. The mother is in ill health and earns a little money by selling fruit at the side of a road, but as is so common here, it isn't enough to feed all four children and herself since there is no income from a husband. The girl she brought, her youngest, is maybe 11 - the mother doesn't know either. We were told that she suffers from "lack of blood" and I wondered if it might be anemia. She also has very rough, scaly skin, and the opinion of the Indians is that it's the result of poor nutrition. Who knows. Anyway, she has been admitted and already has a sponsor: the mother of one of our team members. We don't want to take on an unlimited number of children, but it is so hard for us to turn them away. I know Isaac and Rajanikanth are sort of pre-screening and do not let any requests reach us unless they already approve. I can't imagine how many children they have to say 'no' to on a daily basis. I appreciate the fact that they have not put us in that position.
posted by Amanda at 10:29 PM
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