“We have no rice to eat. Everyone in my family is sick except me, and we have no money.” The widow’s daughter looked at me pleadingly. We were leaving our driveway for our quarterly trip to the capital when the two girls approached us. We were getting a late start, and were in a hurry. What should we do?

After we helped another family bring their motorcycle into town to have it repaired, the wife told me she needed a place to stay while it was fixed. Then she told me she was coming to our house to stay. After we fed the family and entertained them for an hour or so, the husband turned to Daniel. “We don’t have money to pay for the motorcycle repair. Can you please loan us the money? We will pay you back in a few months when we harvest our cassava crops.”

As I visited in the home of yet another family, the husband said to me, “We are so poor and have many children to send to school. We don’t have enough money for their next term. You will help us pay for it, won’t you?”

We are learning very quickly that the villagers have many needs. Some needs are important for their survival, and others are likely just hopeful requests. Please pray with us that we will know when and how to help in each situation we encounter.

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