They have been having financial difficulties as her husband is trying to start his own business of a chicken and vegetable farm. In the process of trying to get a government loan processed to get the business started, he hadn't been working at a regular job. Needless to say, they didn't have an excess of funds. In fact, none at all.
They, as well as many other people here, don't have their own cars, and depend on transports to get them to where they need to go. This is good, unless you don't have money for a transport. Consequently, we have stopped on several occassions to give them a ride to church. Our Branch boundries are very spread out and many have to travel up to 1 1/2 to 2 hours to go to church. Even though they only live about 15 minutes from the church, it is too far to walk, so without transportation, they have to stay home.
In thinking about this family, with the Mom trying to pack to move and the expenses involved in a move to a town about an hour away, I started to wonder what, if any things this young girl (19) had for her new baby. I started thinking about all the pieces of flannel that I have in my cupboard at home, some of which were already hemstitched, just waiting for crocheting around them, and none of which were here with me to make up. I remembered that Sister Moss had a machine in her flat that the mission had bought for the Nelspruit and KaNyamazane Branches to use, and thought, "I could make up a blanket set and just sew it--forget the crochet. Besides, she needs that blanket now."
So, the following Saturday, Sister Moss, Sister Omer, and I headed for a wonderful store that has all kinds of home items, fabric, sports, etc. It is a kind of a "something for everyone" kind of store. I found a piece of flannel, (not a real big selection of flannel) that I thought might be cute. It was the end of the roll and was marked down. Even better! Because they measure in metrics, I wasn't sure just how much I would need, so I took what was left on the roll.
The day after delivering the Halloween cookies, I got out the fabric and started measuring. I cut a pattern for a burp cloth out of newspaper, and starting pinning and cutting. I had borrowed the sewing machine from Sister Moss and started sewing. As I was pressing the seams of the blanket and 2 burp cloths, I started thinking about the spare fabric left over. Once again, I started measuring, pinning and cutting. I decided another small blanket and burp, even though it was out of the same fabric, would be better put to use than storing it in the bag in the cupboard. So I went back to the machine once again.
Once they were finished and ready to be delivered, I thought about the family needing some food while they were unpacking their boxes and trying to get settled in. I threw some chicken in the pot for Chicken Salad, stirred up some cookies, and stopped at the store for croissants and chips to go with it. One more stop at the baby store for a few more needed items, afterwhich we headed to Kamagugu to make our delivery.
The family was extremely delighted for the meal, as they stood there amidst the array of boxes. The young girl was totally thrilled and amazed that I had made the gift. (Most of these people don't have or know how to use a sewing machine). What a fun surprise for her, and an even more fun thing for me to be able to bring some happy moments to this family who has been struggling this past while. And most importantly, for this family to realize what a blessing it is to be a member of a church that truly loves and cares about it's members.
The finished product.
Not bad for a morning's work, even if it wasn't crocheted.
The happy new mom and her sweet daughter!
Such are the blessings of being a missionary!
Yes, "Sweet is the work gospel brings"!
I am so grateful for the opportunity to be serving in the South Africa Mission.
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