The ladies are thankful for recent rains.
Another woman reports that her neighbors were robbed last night, and she is feels scared and sad for them.
Still another gives thanks for a recent home visit from Amani women and their children.
The Burundi center has seen a drop in sales from slowing visitors. Rwanda gives thanks for a few big sales that cleaned them out.
Children of the Amani women are sitting for standardized examinations at school.
The Nairobi streets and buses are unsafe from crime and rough conditions. The women give thanks for their safety and pray for all who travel.
Several women at the Rwanda center are caring for children sick with malaria.
These are just a few of the prayer requests that have appeared in my inbox recently from Amani's Africa centers. Gladys from the Kenya office collects and circulates a simple daily e-mail that keeps us all connected. Some days, the list is short and full thanksgivings. Other days, like earlier this week, it seems a litany of woes too heavy for anyone to bear. Sometimes I marvel at the breadth of it. Generally, I'm thankful that these concerns are voiced with the hope of sharing the burden with others through prayer. The Amani women continue to remind me that our struggles are not meant to be faced alone.
We do this in our own way at AmaniDC. Our staff is small, but it's the same spirit playing out here of caring for those with whom we work . Our middle office has become a makeshift gathering place, much like the old stitching room at the Kenya center used to function before their chapel was built. We take time in the mornings before opening e-mail or packing up products to talk, drink our coffee (perhaps the American equivalent of chai?), and remember that we are friends sharing life together through our work. We tell stories about our families and homes. We laugh. We pray for one another and for the requests coming from Africa.
Sometimes the challenges we face here are very different from those facing our African sisters. More often, they're strikingly similar. Even in just the past few months, the Amani family has walked together through loss, new life, changing seasons, wont, instability and perplexity. Today I'm grateful for the everydayness of it. The little prayers and brief encouraging e-mails become the glue that holds us together across so many distances. On a usual day at the Amani centers, our connection may be imperceptible. But it's a source of strength for me and many on a daily basis.
Last week, a new volunteer was tending the shop when a woman came in with her newborn baby. The volunteer, a recent empty nester, was soon chatting with the younger woman who was herself adjusting to a new season of motherhood. I eavesdropped on their conversation and gave thanks that Amani is becoming a place where people who might not otherwise meet are connecting over common experiences. It would appear that the Amani culture--and the peace in which it is grounded--is naturally and ever-so-slowly making its way known at AmaniDC.
Please join me in praying for the needs of the Amani family in Africa and the US.
I love this photo of my mom & Elizabeth at Amani Kenya. Theirs is a particular and lasting connection over motherhood and resiliency.
