Generosity

After our youth meeting on Saturday, I found out that Angelika, Madame Traole, and Lea were going to visit a few widows from our church. Lea had a lot of rice left over that she’d been given at her wedding, and she wanted to give it away before it went bad. Mai and I joined them. 

Zahatia had just come back from the fields when we arrived, around 5 pm. Her 3 littlest ones were running about, shirtless, eating mangoes in the yard. She walked up the path to greet us, and we all walked over to her small, cement block house. Sitting down outside on small stools and chairs, we waited for the news to be asked. Lea explained her gift of rice, which Zahatia graciously accepted. And then she did something that none of us expected. She walked over to her basin, full of the day’s harvest, and placed it down in front of us. Inside were mangoes, eggplants, and peanuts. Then she came out of the house with another large bowl full of sweet potatoes, the ones with bright violet skin. We passed around a few peanuts, picking them off the dirt covered roots. Zahatia, a widow with 6 kids, was giving us all of this produce. 

As we packed them into bags, I wanted to say, “no, you need it more than I do!” but that would mean not accepting her gift, which would bring her shame. I was touched by her generosity. She has so little, and yet she gave us so much. It reminds me of the story that Jesus recounts in scripture, of the woman who gave a few copper coins - all she had. And then a rich man gave a few silver coins, but he had so much more. Which one am I? Surely, I’m the one giving the silver coins, and Zahatia is the one with the small copper pennies.

If that’s not generosity, I don’t know what is. Zahatia has taught me to give freely, to give all that I have. Now, I have no other choice! The truth is, when we put ourselves into such a place where we must step out in faith, we give God the chance to provide as He promised. God will take care of Zahatia. She knows that He is the one who gave her that produce, and He can bring her 10 times more. The money and the objects that I have are not my own - they were a gift. I have no choice but to share them, as Zahatia shared her harvest with me.

Last night, I sat talking to Lea about Saturday. She recounted testimony upon testimony, of times when she gave away pagnes or money and God gave back to her all the much more. Like yesterday when she used her last 1,000 francs to get her mom in town, and her dad gave her 2,000 more when he came to pick her up. We encouraged one another with the ways God had provided for us, bubbling with excitement for the ways that we could share His provision. Next Saturday, we are going to visit Zahatia with the other young women from our church, to work in her field and make lunch for her family. 
Lea is one way that God has provided for me. Who would have known that I would find such a good friend, with such similar visions, in a 24 year old Senoufo woman from Cote d’Ivoire. Only God could have planned such a friendship.

“Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously," (2 Corinthians 9:6)
Above: Lea and I

Some pictures from the past few weeks:

Mangoes!

The Korhogo market

Pekaly, Florence and I.  Pekal is in his last year of pastoral training!

Baby on my back!  Katie Frazee - her parents are missionaries in Mali.

Jess and Tricia.  Crazy kids.

Steve, Jess's hubby.