A Story in Three Parts - Part 3

A Story in Three Parts – Part 3

Part 1 and Part 2

 

I visited Mama Nelson on Monday and immediately was greeted by her beautiful daughter Judith. Mama Nelson has 4 children, Nelson, Winlet, Annette, and Judith. The older three were away at school, but Judith quickly found a comfortable spot on my lap and stayed there. (I guess I should admit that I bribed her to that spot with starbursts.)

As soon as we arrived at her home there was this sense of relief on Mama Nelson’s face. She had been waiting so long for me to come. She told me about her family, her children and her husband. She said they have enough to eat, they are happy, they have a good marriage, and the kids are thriving in school. She shared with me her concern that her son Nelson will not get an education beyond primary school and he has dreams of becoming a pastor or and evangelist. They have been so faithfully been able to provide for their family and now that Nelson has reached this point they feel like they are failing him.

I told her about some of the scholarship programs I know about and I promised her that I would try to collect some resources for her to learn more about this, I feel sure that Nelson will get an education. Pastor Shao was excited about this too – he knows Nelson faithfully attends the youth group – but he didn’t know that Nelson was feeling the call to serve.

I asked Mama Nelson if there was anything else that was a concern for her.

She then talked about her mother.

The crazy lady is Mama Nelson’s mother.

Once upon this time this now broken and confused woman was someone’s daughter and she still is someone’s wife and mother.

This woman who provides some comic relief in the village is actually a source of worry and despair for her daughter. She talked about how she still lives at home with her husband (Mama Nelson’s father) but it gets increasingly difficult for him to take care of her. He often calls on his daughter to help watch her, or search for her when she is lost.

I don’t think Mama Nelson wanted anything more from me than to just listen and to know that she cares and worries about her mother, that once her mother was well functioning and loving and caring, to know the grief she feels that that mother she had has now disappeared.

Mama Nelson just needed me to practice that which I had been teaching the women’s class on day one - “Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.”

Listening to and caring for another person is elusive work. The results are not tangible and it is difficult to get a sense of accomplishment. It is also, I am learning over and over again, the thing that people need most of all. I will not forget Mama Nelson, or her mother, and I shall always be grateful to them for this bit of wisdom.