The Aroma

In this culture where normalcy is laced with incredulity, it is easy to look past the flower that is blooming among the thorns and briars.  I had the sense to stop and savor this flower's aroma today before our first stop in Project Life.

I observed Laurinha's familiar limp as we walked together to visit the first family on our list. Laurinha is 55 but she walks for miles each day to minister God's love to a myriad of needy people. She admitted to me that each step is painful and I noticed that her feet slipped awkwardly in her torn plastic sandals.  Many years ago, when she was just a small child, she had been asked to fetch the water for her family at a local well. She tried to ferry the water but took a fateful fall that broke her leg. Without the access of medical attention, her leg never completely healed. She is not the image of the beggars I see on the streets with a lesser handicap and a pitiful countenance. Instead, I am often the recipient of her cheerful smile and humble spirit.  The Green Door ministry built her a mud home last fall.  It is small, about 300 square feet.  But it is her first home and she asked to have it dedicated to the Lord for His service.  I was thankful for the aroma of Christ within her that braced me for our first meeting of the morning.

We came to the home of a Catholic woman with AIDS in PL that I had not met before. When I heard her story though, it came back to me like jumping in ice water on a frigid day. Last year she had witnessed her oldest son Victor murder her youngest son Domingo because Domingo had worn Victor's clothes to church without asking. Domingo had become a Christian about 15 days prior to his death. Victor was sentenced to jail in Beira shortly afterward. His mother refused to communicate with him after that tragic day. It is tempting to allow the thorns and briars in a garden of poverty to camouflage the hope that a flower can bloom. But I took a deep breath and labored to snip the thorns and briars away with God's Word.  We talked about forgiveness and hope for Victor because of Christ. I was encouraged when she took us to the home of her daughter and grandchildren so they could hear this Truth too.  I pray that this fragrance of forgiveness will continue to fill their hearts and broaden its aroma to Beira.