After one year of being open for business, I sat down to share with her, that I believe God has a new plan for her tienda (store). (Thanks Elena for the confirming word you gave me!) He told me that she has learned a lot about running a business and that it was time for me to step back and give her more responsibilities. He trusts her to be in charge of doing all of the pricing on her own. She broke a smile at that!! I told her I’d be giving her the pricing markers for her to be able to start with the 300 pieces that we dropped off. She was excited and nervous at the same time (a common reaction to change, for all of us!). She said she didn’t know if she could do it; but I told her that I, along with God, have confidence that she is ready for this! That little smile squeaked out again! I explained that instead of me doing the monthly accounting and showing her the checks and balances, that she would be showing me now. She seemed to be comfortable with this, however, she wasn’t so sure about learning how to use the computer and excel spreadsheet. I told her, “si, se puede. (yes, you can)! Gabi will also be learning at the same time to be able to do her hair salon accounting, so you can help each other.”
The next day, I handed her the markers and told her to pray that the Lord would help her to price each item. She wanted me to help, but I just encouraged her because I knew it was time to let go (it can be hard for a teacher to let go of markers!! Hee-hee!). Later that afternoon, she was proud of herself for completing the task. As always, a few interesting conversations were opened up in-between all of this training. Rosa needed to come clean about a layaway situation. We had previously decided that no merchandise would leave the store unless it was paid in full. However, one woman somehow got out the door with several items without paying, a few months ago. She promised to pay Rosa a month later, as she was escaping. It caught Rosa by surprise and she didn’t know what to do. Over the next few months, she paid several visits to “the escaper” to ask for the money. One excuse after another was followed by promises and more promises. The good thing is that I was able to see Rosa’s honesty through this situation. She could have easily covered it up and I would have never known. She chose to do the right thing instead.
At one point, Rosa was comfortable enough to ask me some questions about American values. She had met a European girl who had told Rosa that in her country, there’s a lot of sexual promiscuity (pre-marital sex etc.). She went on to say that if a married person gets bored with his/her partner, it’s common for them to go find someone else to fulfill their needs. Rosa told me that in E.B., this is not acceptable and that if it happened, that person would be insulted by the entire village (to the point that he/she would practically be ex-communicated). “In this small town, everybody knows everything”, she said. She added that divorce is extremely rare. Rosa was very curious to know what it‘s like in the States. I told her that in all parts of the world, there are sects of people that think and behave like her European informant. However, Christian values differ. Ephesians 5.3: But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. I am so glad that Rosa has opened up more and more over time, allowing me to speak truth into her life.
At the end of the visit, I shared with her that the Lord wants them (the villagers) to fulfill their own purposes and feel a sense of esteem for learning something new that they can do on their own. It’s one thing to bring free clothes to the park and its another thing to brings funds to a village and for a family to have a source of income (a percentage goes to Rosa, while a percentage goes towards the village goals, that the women will vote on). So, one woman has now learned how to “fish” and she loves it! I expressed to her how proud I am of her and I believe she is pleased with herself, too! She was happy about the increase in the percentage that she will now be receiving as well!! Thank You Father, for all that You are doing in, through and with Rosa!
No comments:
Post a Comment