Lydia Women in Africa

When I began recording my thoughts about the trip to Africa on this blog I hoped that it would fit with the purpose of our ministry. I did not realize just how appropriate it would be.

Before I arrived my African friend, Marthalene, distributed registration forms to all the women who planned on attending one of the workshops. These registration forms asked for basic information: name, address, marital status, number of children in the home, as well as church affiliation questions. The registration forms were collected by Marthalene and she made sure that we had an equal number of women plan on attending on each of the first five days of instruction. I was not given the registration forms until the end of each day.

At the end of the day, back in the guest house that I stayed at, I read over the forms in hopes of better acquainting myself with the women who attended that day. Each day, as I read over the sections on marital status, and number of children in the home, it was clearer and clearer that most of the women in these workshops, and possibly most of the women in Liberia, were "Lydia Women".

I began asking the women questions about their lives and if they had been married. Some had, most had not. It was common that for the women who had been married that after having a few children their husbands left, finding a woman who had more education or just simply left. Some women were widows, others had not been married but were hopeful that the men who fathered their children would take care of them.

As I write this I hope that it is understood that no judgment against these women is intended. Their survival through the bloody and lengthy civil war is a triumph. The damage that was done to their country is evident on the surface everywhere you look. At every turn there are empty looted homes, roads in terrible disrepair, garbage strewn about, poor medical facilities, horrible drainage or sanitary systems...and the list could go on. But, the damage that I was faced with most directly, and the damage I was hoping to address was precisely the damage done to the human heart. And that damage was evident in the eyes of each of these women.

These women have all lived through more than I can imagine. Most of them are Lydia Women. Most of them shoulder the responsibility on their own to care for their families. Quite often their families include children that are not even theirs, but who were given to them to raise.

I am sure that as the weeks go on I'll have more reflections on all that I experienced, but what I hope to communicate now is that even with the intense daily suffering, these women walk in faith. They do not merely "hope" that God hears them when they pray, they really KNOW God hears. And that solid faith is evident in their praise. Wow, how they can praise God! They love Him so much, they are excited to learn more about Him and oh how they love to sing to Him!

May we all love God with a love like theirs that does not doubt, and does not hold back our expression of joy!!

Shelly