Mali 15

Today I saw the way that God will always change our plans and move things so that they work as they should.

We had just finished our last soap making workshop in a place called Bako-Djikoroni. We had received word that there was a parcel to pick up in the area of Niamana where we conducted the first workshop. As we had finished early we went to receive the parcel.

We arrived at Niamana and were directed to a lady's house. For some reason the person that was escorting us (who spoke less French than I) didn't tell the lady why we were there. So she thought that we had just come for a pastoral visit.

She explained to us how she was ill. She certainly was - two weeks ago I met her and she was the life of the party. Today she can barely move. She explained that she had high blood pressure and had suffered stress and headaches ever since the conflict started.

She told us how shocked she was when, in her home near Timbuktu, she heard gunfire for the first time. She also told us how she had fled, sent by her husband, who has stayed behind. She hears news from home very rarely. Sadly, on Friday she had some bad news - her youngest brother had suddenldy died. She cannot be in her home town for the funeral.

As I listened to her, and spoke with her, it was evident that she was suffering greatly. It was also evident that we were meant to be there, to keep her company for an hour or two, to listen to her story, to appreciate her pain and to pray for her health. She did finish her story by declaring God's care for her and her trust.

Turns out that the parcel that we were to pick up finally came when another lady saw us there and went to fetch it. It was a shirt that had been made to say thank you to me for the time we came and ran the workshop. To be honest, it's not normally a shirt I would wear. But I will, occasionally, thankful for the lady who made it and grateful that I was able to give her some time today - even if by accident.