We met this morning at a four hour refugee church worship service. Following the service, the pastor asked me to stand at the entrance to greet people as they left.

When I took the hand of the elderly widow (right in the photo), she looked at me with a big smile and a knowing glance. She was giving me something as we shook hands. It was a 100 Shilling note - worth about 80 cents today, but it is a lot of money for an elderly widow in the camp. She was giving me a gift. It was the widow’s mite.

You see, Covid made life for people on the margins here nearly impossible. In 2020 and 2021, IAFR sent emergency funds to our refugee church partner so they could provide people like her with basic non perishable food items. She and the other widows in the photos were among the recipients. She was expressing her thanks.

I told the pastor afterwards because I was afraid this might be all she had. He counseled me to accept her gift. He then called these ladies together so we could truly meet.

There was so much joy.

I plan to take her precious gift home and place it with one of my favorite artworks our daughter created many years ago of The Widow’s Mite. It hangs immediately across from our front door so it is the first thing people see when they enter our home. They surely belong together.