This past Monday, we arrived in Mombasa, Kenya and began a SLAM service camp for 127 youth from all over the country. I got to help facilitate a service project for a group of 10 of these youth. We went to visit a widow named Eunice and her daughter, Anna.
I have a lot of experience visiting widows through my weekly volunteer times at the Institute for GOD, and I was so thankful to put that experience to use. When we arrived at Eunice’s home, he daughter Anna was outside practicing mobility with a walker. She’s partially paralyzed, and does exercises each day to try and restore her body. After singing songs of worship to encourage Anna while she was doing her exercises, we went with her to her home.
We all fit ourselves into the narrow hallway that served as Anna and Eunice’s kitchen and eating space. We gifted her some staple food items, made chai to share, and began to ask Eunice and Anna about their story. We learned Anna had once been able to walk, but the stress of failing an important exam in high school caused her to have a stroke. By the time they got her to the hospital, she’d become fully paralyzed. Through the help of her mother, Anna has regained some of her mobility, but she still needs daily assistance. Her mother Eunice wakes up at 5 am to prepare everything Anna will need for the day before she goes to work. Anna professed to us that she is confident one day God will restore her fully.
Through conversation we also learned that Anna had a sister who passed from pneumonia at the age of 2 in 2005. Anna told us she’d dreamed of being an actress when she was younger. Her mother showed us photos of the both of them prior to Anna’s stroke. She’d been such a pretty girl, with bright eyes and a stunning smile. The light in Anna’s eyes remained, but the woman who sat before us was drastically different. Her medication had ruined her teeth, causing severe dental issues. Her hair was unbraided, cropped short, and her clothing was tattered. She had no shoes.
Eunice and Anna both professed their strong faith in God and their belief in his care and provision. When we asked Anna what her favorite passage of scripture was, she told us the book of Job. That is a powerful thing to hear from two people who have experienced deep, deep tragedy. I was humbled by their story, and blessed to be able to look them in the eyes and listen like Jesus did when he sat with the vulnerable and needy.
Though I would have stayed all day with Anna and her mother, the time for our service project to end drew near. We prayed for both of them, thanked them for their hospitality, and let them know how blessed we’d been to spend time with them and hear about their lives. As we were getting ready to leave, I felt God tell me to hug Anna and tell her she’s beautiful.
As I embraced Anna, I held her tight and told her, “You are so beautiful, Anna.” Immediately, she began to cry. I told her, “We love you so much. God loves you so much. We will never, ever forget about you. God has not forgotten about you.” As Anna cried, I thought about how most of the world would not think of her as beautiful, how she herself likely even felt she was no longer beautiful after all she’d been through and the ways her experiences had changed her. She composed herself enough to respond that she loved us too, and we departed holding back tears of our own.
As we left Anna’s home, I reflected on how thankful I was that learning God’s word has given me eyes to see what is truly beautiful to the Lord. Anna, a young woman still strong in her faith and constantly praising God despite her suffering, THAT is beautiful. Regardless of her external trappings, her heart is pure. God sees her, and he loves her as his daughter. Her faith is pleasing to him, and it shines, bringing light even in her incredibly dark situation.
God’s presence was so strong for the entirety of our visit. In reflecting on the time, I think of scriptures like James 1:27 and Deuteronomy 10:18. God is clear in his Word about the importance of visiting widows. When we sat with Eunice and Anna, the Word of God came to life in front of us. Olivia Lasater, who was also on the project with us, brought up Matthew 25:40. Though my heart broke leaving Anna behind, I felt reassured knowing we had acted out of obedience to God’s word as we sat with her. That kind of obedience brings about lasting impact, sustainable light and change that can continue to bring fruit beyond what we will ever see with our own eyes.