In the middle of our English language lesson my Afghan student, Halima, burst into tears. They were not quiet tears leaking into the corner of her eye. No. She was downright sobbing. When I leaned forward to give her a hug, she reached out and clung to me, still crying.
What had I done? Had it been a mistake to use an article about the current hunger situation in Afghanistan? In the preceding months aid agencies had pulled out of the country, leaving many people without access to food. The article described widowed women without money to buy food for their children, and mothers resorting to giving bottles of warm tea to their babies. One widow outside of Kabul had a fruit and vegetable stand by the side of the road for years. The Taliban came and told her she must abandon her stand because she no longer had a man in charge. They told her to go home. She said she had no food to feed her children, and they didn’t care.
After Halima’s tears died down, I gently asked, “What’s the matter?”
In the broken English of a woman still learning to speak a new language, she replied, “My brother call. He say, ‘No eat food, three days.’ ”
God in Action
I had been unaware of how critical the situation was for her family back home in Afghanistan. Her mother and father, three brothers, their wives, and their children, 20 people in all, live together in one home in a small village. When the Taliban took over two years prior, her brothers lost their jobs. Now they were out of money and food. Her mother had serious health problems, but was unable to afford the needed medicine or to visit the doctor. Her two older brothers shared one pair of boots between them. Each morning they decided who would wear the boots and who would go barefoot.
I gave Halima a little money right then to send over for food. Then I called my friend Marci to pray and ask God what more we should do. We realized we needed to act immediately.
Marci remembered having bake sales before and raising money for various projects. Could we have a bake sale in January? Would anyone buy baked goods when it was freezing cold outside? It seemed that it was worth a try.
We decided on a Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and made arrangements to hold it in front of a local grocery store. Several woman volunteered to bake bread and various sweets for the sale. They spread the word, and more women volunteered. Local churches put the announcement in their bulletin. Soon we had 19 volunteers! What an amazing thing God was doing! We were witnessing God in action.
Marci brought the bake sale idea to her morning prayer group, and together they prayed.
We were witnessing God in action.
God’s Love in Their Eyes
A week before the bake sale I looked at the weather forecast. Freezing rain was now predicted for the day of the bake sale. With fear in my heart I called Marci. I was willing to do the bake sale in all weather conditions except freezing rain. What should we do? We talked, prayed together, and claimed Bible promises—then chose to proceed with the sale. Weather predictions are often wrong.
There were now 24 people signed up to make baked goods. Thanking God, we requested His assistance with the roads and the weather. The forecast changed to no precipitation. But weather predictions are often wrong.
The day before the bake sale I called Marci again. “Should we postpone the sale? It is freezing rain right now and is predicted to continue all day.” We prayed together again over the phone. We had no idea how to cancel a sale like this. So much of the advertising was by word of mouth. To cancel would be so complicated, and surely we would miss someone. Plus, we felt an urgency that the funds were greatly needed. The sale needed to go on. We were trusting God. We didn’t believe He would bring together so many bakers and then have the sale canceled.
I was amazed when I pulled up to Andy’s Market that freezing cold Friday morning before 8:00 a.m. I had dressed very warmly in layers because the temperature was in the low 20s. Snow had fallen overnight and schools were closed, but there was a bustle of activity as tables were set up and baked goods were set on them. Everything looked delicious! We were witnessing God’s mighty hand at work. A local pastor volunteered to bring us two more tables, as there was not enough room on the four tables we already had set up. Women had baked whole-wheat bread, sourdough bread, gluten-free bread, pies, cookies of every kind, bars, brownies, rice crispy treats, and several kinds of fudge. There were even cinnamon rolls on the table!
But then came the question. With so many kinds of food donated, would they all sell? Would people come out to buy when the roads were slick? Once again we prayed and asked God to bless the generosity of the bakers and send people to buy what they had made.
Some other women came to the sale and stayed to help us. We had a steady stream of customers. We would talk to each one and tell them why we were there. We told them of my student’s family and their needs. So many of the kind people who stopped by were so generous with their donations; we saw the love of God in their eyes.
God Goes Beyond
Later in the afternoon Halima and her teenage daughter came to the sale. She had baked some traditional Afghan treats to sell. They stood with us in the freezing cold and helped customers.
As the store’s closing time neared, we started to clean up. Six tables full of baked goods had turned into only five boxes of goodies remaining. God had blessed abundantly. We were cold, but God had sustained us all the way through. There had been neither a lack of customers nor precipitation.
I went home to warm up and count the donation money. When I sent Marci a text of the total, she thought I had made a mistake. God had blessed far beyond our wildest dreams for that sale. He had impressed people to donate generously. The bake sale raised close to $5,000!
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20, 21).
It was not anything one person did that brought in so much in monetary donations. It was all God. He did exceedingly abundantly above what we asked or thought He would do. We give Him glory and praise.
Now there is a lovely family in a small village in Afghanistan with an auto rickshaw to drive as a taxi to earn money for the family’s daily needs. There was also enough money to buy a cow and a calf so that they have milk and the beginnings of a future herd.
Now when I visit Halima for her English lessons, she often tells me of her family and says they are praying for us. The children are no longer hungry. They have milk to drink. Her mother has medicine and has seen the doctor. Her father too has medicine. Her brothers have work. Her sisters-in-law have food to cook. They are so happy they have enough to share with others.
We are happy too. It is such a blessing to give.
