MORNING THOUGHT for Monday April 16th 2007 broadcast on BBC Radio Jersey, presented by Rose Helie:

 

Good morning. Each morning this week I hope to share with you about our experiences taking relief aid to Romania. We view it as a tremendous privilege to take goods there, and often we feel very challenged by what we see and the people we meet.

 

Yesterday I told you about the man in the factory warehouse to whom we gave a welder. That was one of the most encouraging happenings. Today what I will share also took place at the factory warehouse but it was one of the most challenging and disturbing experiences we had and one that I have often thought of.

It was in June last year when we were there and I feel we saw the depth of their need. We have been helping one of the families there with funding for the bus fare and stationery so her daughter can go to school. It was this woman who called us over to where all the 8 or 9 women had gathered. In the centre of their group was a woman who was heavily pregnant. It was clear they all wanted us to know something about this pregnant woman, we could not understand so we called Nelu the social worker.

“This is so sad” he said “the baby is dead inside her but she cannot afford to pay to go to the hospital”. It really sickened us all to realize this woman was stuck as she could not afford to pay for the medical procedure to remove the dead fetus.

2 of the ladies in our party immediately gave the social worker the money needed for this. When Nelu explained what we had done she began to cry and we all cried with her. On each visit since then the woman who was pregnant has come to us and hugged us to show her appreciation for what we were able to do.

That incident has stayed with me and I have often thought of it and wondered what would have happened if we had not gone there that time. I am glad we were there and that the first woman who we had helped had the confidence to ask for our help for her friend. For us it is a privilege to be entrusted with the resources and to be able to help.

As I said I have often thought about this woman and her plight. And as I reflected I have remembered accounts in the Bible where people whom Jesus had helped , then took their friends to Him for Him to help them. As an old hymn says “He is only a prayer away”.

 

 

 

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