Saturday Morning Walk
Natal , Brasil - Saturday, May 29, 2004 8:30am
I was walking with our little dog, Max, and taking pleasure in the beautiful day, even though I was beginning to feel theheat. I noticed a woman walking towards me with four little children in tow, one who was too you ng to walk be carried by a little girl no older than seven or eight.
The mother was carrying a number of brooms made of straw on her shoulder. The children ran ahead of her, ringing the doorbells of each home they passed. The mother would then stop at each house and call out, to see if if the home owner wanted to buy a broom. You have to picture this in your mind, all the homes have walls around them with closed doors and they answer through a small intercom hanging on the wall outside. The woman yells into these intercoms asking if they would buy a broom. She walked the entire length of the street I was on and not one resident answered her call.
As I was watching this scene I was grieved in my spirit for this family but then the scenario got worse for at the end of this street I saw a man who turned out to be the husband of this woman. He had at least a dozen or more of the same type of brooms on his shoulder along with three more children, the oldest around nine or ten.
This family with seven children, one too young to walk, was out early on a Saturday morning walking the streets trying to sell brooms in order to earn enough money to survive. They weren’t begging or stealing: they were out walking in the hot sun with their seven children trying to sell some cheap brooms to earn a little money.
As I pondered this scene I was troubled in more ways than one. I could not speak the language, so I could not communicate with them to even tell them of God’s love for them. Besides, that would have meant nothing to them, for a God Bless you extended with an empty hand to a person that is hungry is an empty phrase. The second thing was that I had no money on me. If I had, I would have bought some of those brooms and then given them back so they could sell them again.
I came back home and told Voni about this and discussed it with her and while we were talking I felt in my spirit to take some money, get in my car and go out and see if I could find them. I did this and came upon them sitting on the sidewalk under a tree to get out of the blazing sun. I pulled over and beckoned to them and the wife came over and I gave her some money and told her that Jesus loved her and her family. (Voni had told me how to say it in Portuguese) The woman was almost in tears and the children were smiling from ear to ear. I left and went on an errand and on the way back the Holy Spirit prompted me again. Once more I went up and down the streets until I found them.
The husband and three children were on one side of the street and his wife with four children were on the other. I pulled over to the man and beckoned him to the car and indicated that I would buy all his brooms and gave him enough to buy all of them and more. I got him to understand that I wanted him to keep all the brooms and the look that came over his face and the children’s faces when they realized what was happening was reward enough. I once again told them that God loved them and went on my way.
The Holy Spirit then reminded me of the words of Jesus when He said, “When you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to Me.”
I could not speak their language but there is a saying that is true no matter in what the country or language. “Actions speak louder then words.”
I trust that by my actions they will believe that Jesus loves them. I know that tonight that whole family will eat and I will be able to sleep better.
Joe Pottle
