I met Ignacia several years ago. She is a young woman terribly crippled by rheumatoid arthritis. She never knew her father and her mother left her when she was a child. (In this culture, typically,  when a woman "re-marries", the children from her first marriage are not welcomed into the new family.) So Iganacia was left alone. When we met her she was living in a hut that was about the size of a dog house, made of corn stalks. She is in tremendous pain all of the time and she had no way of supporting herself. So she lived off of the kindness of her very poor neighbors.We gathered the support of the local church and built her a little house and twice a month we help her with food and medication for her pain. She was depressed and discouraged at that time - thinking that her life was of no value. I remember talking with her, trying to encourage her with words about the kindness and love of God; telling her that the Lord had a purpose for her life - and even if she could do nothing else, she could pray for those around her. And I remember going away from that conversation thinking that those were the weakest, most ineffective words...but somehow, God used them. She has made it her life work to pray for those around her. 


I do not see her often as it is so difficult for her to walk, so it is always a treat when she is able to come. She is well known now in the area and is often called to pray for the sick. She told me of how she had just spent a month with a family, praying day and night for a man who was making the long and dangerous trip to the US. She is a gentle, humble woman of God and I am honored to know her. I know that she will have a very special place in heaven... She daily walks out Jesus' instructions to "Go...as you go, preach this message The kingdom of heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freeely give." Matt. 10:6,7