A Bowl of Soup

In La Libertad, the six of us were divided up between six different homes for lunch as these families could not support two additional mouths in their homes. In the time it took to get the delegation members sent off with their hosts, I missed where Esther was sent but later she shared with us what happened.

There was an 82 year old man who desperately wanted to welcome one of us into his home. As the delegation and the three members of the Pastoral team began to head to homes with other members of the community, he began to think that he was not going to have this coveted opportunity. Esther came to him and said that she would be happy to share a meal in his home. He turned and led her to his home.

They left together to the edge of the community. Esther recognized him from a previous visit and asked about the health of him and his wife. He broke his shoulder some time (years) ago and it was not set properly rendering him unable to work. He told Esther that he could gather firewood but was unable to carry it in from the field in order to sell. They had less than the other families in a community that already had little, but he said that he and his wife did have food. “One day beans, another day an egg and another tomato with chili pepper and of course our tortillas.”

Yet that day, Esther ate soup with chicken. He killed a chicken to give to his guest. Esther painfully said later that it felt as if she was taking food from their very mouths.

He gave with joy.