Face to Face Stories: Frugal Mom Stretches Her Resources

We often question how much good we are really doing by sharing a bag of weekly provisions with a family in crisis. Yes—we can sleep a little easier knowing that these families are going to bed with full bellies—but we continue to battle that nagging question, “What happens when the bag runs out?”

Resources are limited, and we want to give as much as possible to those in need, but the sad truth is that there are always more needs than resources. We took heart this week at the resourcefulness of one of the families we visited, who took initiative to make the most out of the little they were given.

Last month, we carried a bag of crisis food provisions to a little family in our Betania program. Salome cares for four young children and lives simply. The bag we brought was a welcome relief during this difficult time of quarantine when few are able to find work. We knew that the bag would last—possibly—for a week’s time, and that we would likely not have the opportunity to leave more until the next month.

We visited the family again this week. Her two oldest children, who are beneficiaries in the Manna 4 Lempira program, are both painfully shy. As we waited and tried to coax them out, we started talking to their mother about the provision bags. Sometimes, we buy red beans, and sometimes, we buy black beans. Salome told us about a delicious black bean soup she had made from the last bag—a soup so delicious, in fact, that she decided to take a chance and plant what was left of her bag of dry black beans.

We stood marveling at the neat rows of healthy bean plants that filled her little garden, having sprouted up since our last visit. Soon, this mother will have a harvest of beans to feed her family for many meals!

It was a wonderful object lesson for us. We can’t do everything—but we can do something. And we can never know the future impact of that something! Even the little that we give, in God’s hands, can be miraculously and wonderfully multiplied. 

Be encouraged! For those who have given one bag of food, or for those who given many during this crisis, know that what you have given is being multiplied. These bags aren’t just a few meals; they are seeds of hope that will produce a rich harvest in the lives of the families we serve.

 - posted by Kim

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