Because she only graduated from elementary school, her life is very tough. She can't speak Indonesian fluently because her first language is the local dialect. In addition, she has a hearing problem, and the village people ignore her because of this. But this is not all. She also has to wear big, thick glasses (the cheapest lenses) because of her poor eyesight, and this makes her look different from other people. It took her two years to get a job as a house maid because nobody wanted to employ her because of her appearance.

But she is blessed with a good character and is very diligent. In her free time, she cooks various kinds of fried food which she sells in order to help her family's finances. She not only provides for her family, but any food she has been unable to sell she shares with her friends, even with the owner of the house where she works as a house maid. Even though she is poor, she does not allow this to stop her from being generous in sharing what little she has with others.

Widow Two

Name : Rina (alias), Age : approximately 30

She lives in a big house (as big as mine) on the opposite side of the street to us with her extended family, a son and a daughter. Her husband divorced her after he found a new, younger woman.

Her daily work is to sit on the floor at the front of her house and watch what is going on in my house. So she has quite a bit of knowledge about our daily and weekly activities. For example, while we were out a friend visited my house and she told him the exact time we went out and when we would be home.

I don't like her to come to my house. Whenever she comes, I notice that she always wants something from us. She always asks us to please have pity on her children who don't have a daddy. She also says “do you have any gift to give me?” We have heard from many people that she has borrowed money and never returned it. Because we have kept our distance from her, she is not a frequent visitor but I can tell by glancing through the window that she always looks ready to come over to my house.

We are closer to Mrs ‘Seri' and look for a chance to convey the good news to her. She is a sincere and diligent woman and shows a lot of kindness to other people. Her heart is very humble. I find that her daughters have gentle spirits, which is their most precious asset. Yet, we still have open hearts to be friends with the other woman also.

Poverty sometimes makes people feel uncomfortable and humiliated. But it depends on their attitude, whether they become ‘captive to that poverty' or whether they allow it ‘to train/shape their characters'. This is what I found as I observed these two women.

P R A Y E R P O I N T S:

1. Praise Him who gave Mrs ‘Seri' a good character and the ability to cope with poverty.

2. Pray for the development of deeper relationships to enable us to share the Gospel with these two women.

3. Pray for the daughter of Mrs ‘ Rina ' who is sick and weak, and in addition, the chance for me to pray for her publicly.