A special time

This morning I set off to church as usual on a Sunday. I was in good spirit because the weather is so beautiful just now.
I had toyed with the idea of going to the English chapel this week because the Trew family were going to be leading the music. In the end I felt convicted to go to the Cathedral as usual.
We had a lovely service and Pastor Ronnie talked about storing up riches in heaven and not here on earth. It was a lesson that I had shared with his daughter's class on Friday in school, prior to reading them a story about a treasure hunt.
Today it was gift Sunday when we give two offerings. (We do this once a month). One is to help those in the church with needs.

As I sat down, from the corner of my eye I saw a new face. She was a very poor-looking indigenous lady. She looked very sad and lonely, so I decided to talk to her after the service.
When the service ended I looked for her but she had gone. I then decided to go home for lunch. As I left the church I literally bumped into her. I stopped and asked her where she was from. Before I knew it I found myself inviting her for lunch and rather hesitantly she accepted. This was an unusual event for me as it is not usually safe to invite total strangers home, here in Paraguay. One has to be careful.

We walked down the hill chatting and she told me that her name is Fermina and she had come from Makxawaya in the Chaco for a medical appointment at the Central Clinic on Tuesday. She had had to hitch a lift down last Thursday on a truck as she had no busfare. Since then she had been waiting for Tuesday to come around, with nowhere to go. She was staying quite nearby in some sort of hostel known by the Indians.

We arrived at my flat and I welcomed her in. She was a lovely lady and we chatted easily about ourselves and our respective lives and how the Lord had helped us. She knew Beryl Baker, a nurse in the Chaco and she spoke fondly of our last Bishop and his wife. I could see that she was a bit on edge so I made some terere (a herbal drink) and we sat talking whilst the lunch cooked. I felt so humbled by her presence.

After lunch she was not sure whether to go but again I felt that she should not be pushed away so I invited her to stay a while. I gave her a year book of daily readings in Spanish and she immediately wanted to read them all!!!
She carefully took out a pair of spectacles but it was soon apparent that she could not see the print. Suddenly she asked to use my specs. I told her that I had some old ones so she could try those, but I explained that they are variofocals so they may not be of use.
As she put them on it was like seeing a light switch go on. A big beaming, toothless smile spread over her face and she gazed around the room and then at the pages. Soon she was engrossed in them and she then dragged her Bible out of her bag. Her "Bible " was a New Testament in Enxtet language. (The Old Testament is currently in the process of being translated.) We were soon sharing the Word, she from her Enxtet Bible, I had my English Living Bible, with its notes and we were communicating in Spanish. We had a lovely time together and prayed before she left. I walked her to a familiar street and we parted. I felt that I had been privileged to meet her.
God is Good!