a moment with junieth

The first time I saw her, she was carrying her 18 month old on her hip while writing on a notepad. When I got closer, I realized she was recording the names and ages of each individual who was receiving anti-parasite medicine. This medicine was a donation from the FH team who worked most of this past week in El Limonal, an impoverished community of 250 families just west of Chinandega, located between a cemetery and the city dump.

Junieth is a young mom with a lot of responsibility, but that didn’t stop her from giving up her day Thursday to help in the administration/medicine distribution process. After lunch, I joined Junieth, Ivania, and Fatima (the community leader, another young Christian mom) as they walked along the dusty streets of the community and offered the medicine to each family.

The process went something like this:

“Buenas—andamos deparasitando. Quieres recibir la medicina?” (Good afternnon—we are de-parasiting the community? Would you like some medicine?)

If we received a yes response, we would take down the names and ages of each person in the house and give them appropriate medicine (the dosage information was given to us by a doctor beforehand).

We worked in pairs--Junieth and I on one side of each street and Fatima and Ivania on the other, with the medicine cart between us. At a lull in the process, we stood under the shade of one of the neighborhood’s many trees and I asked Junieth, “So why are you doing this? Are you part of Fatima’s women’s health group?”

“No,” she answered. “But she’s my friend and I wanted to support her.”

“Are you part of the same church?”

“No. I believe in God, but I don’t really belong to a church.”

“Why?”

“Well, you know, there are a lot of hypocrites.”

“Yes, I know. There are a lot of people in the world who say one thing and do another. Is there something in particular that concerns you?”

“Well,” she said quietly, “I like to dance. And I like to have fun. And I feel like if I were to go to the church, they would judge me for that.”

“Oh. But Fatima, she is not like that, is she?”

“No, but many other people are. I wish I could go, but I just can’t.”

We began to walk again in silence. What could I say? It’s true that there are many legalistic evangelical churches in Nicaragua, and Limonal is no exception.

Lord, give me something to encourage this woman with such a heart of service that she would walk around in the oppressive heat of the afternoon just to help her friend.

“Junieth, did you know that Jesus’ first miracle in the Bible was turning water into wine at a wedding?”

“Yes, I have heard that.”

“Well, Jesus was someone who loved to have fun, who had a heart full of joy, and loved being around people just like you who like to dance and enjoy life. So I hope you will try not to worry so much what other people think of you and remember that Christ loves you just as you are.”

I looked cautiously into her eyes. For just a second, I thought I saw the weight of life lift from her countenance and the light of understanding and hope take hold.

And then it was gone.

Later we would joke and take pictures and I would share my mandarin with her. But that singular moment—a moment when I saw the pain in her soul—would stay with me into the night.