As soon as Julie left the alley, Ravi hurried to the shopping center. Sammy called after him.
“Slow down, Ravi!” Ravi was relieved to see Kumar.
“Kumar,” he called from between two parked cars. Kumar’s face lit up, and he ran to the boys. Ravi handed him his half sandwich, which he wolfed down and then Sammy, with a smile, held up the crust, which Kumar also devoured.
“My friend didn’t bring as much food today. All we got was one sandwich each, but each day that she brings food, I will share what I have.” He glanced at Sammy, but didn’t wait for an answer.
“Come. Even if we just get one sandwich every other day, you will never get beat. I promise.” Kumar stared at him as if he was considering it.
“Mr. Shah said he will find me and kill me if I leave.”
“He told me the same thing, and I am still alive. I can help hide you. Come.”
“If Mr. Shah drives by and sees me talking to you, he will beat me again tonight.” He turned abruptly to approach a lady with a camera around her neck.
Julie was back at the dump trying to communicate. Looking up words in my dictionary is painfully slow. Lord, I really, really need a translator. It was easier to engage the girls in games. She taught them hand clapping with a partner— clapping single, then hands together, then going faster until someone broke the rhythm.
The “Hokey Pokey” was still a huge hit. But I can’t get that song out of my head! She’d seen them play tag, but she was weak and tired. One sandwich wasn’t enough to provide much physical energy. OK, the “Hokey Pokey” it is.
As she left the dump and headed for the house, Julie didn’t notice the muscular policeman from the station on the opposite sidewalk.
He observed the children for a few minutes, then moved on.
“Lord, what am I going to do for food tomorrow?”
Don’t go home, go to the market and find a sack.
“But, Lord, the berries are all gone. I picked even the green ones today.”
Didn’t you just ask what you should do for food tomorrow?
“Well, yes, but, like I said, the berries are all gone.”
Julie, I recommend immediate obedience even when it doesn’t make sense to you.
“Yes, Lord. Thanks for the reminder. Even though there are no berries, I think I’ll go straight to the market and find a sack. Here I go!”
Walking through the market was distracting. The smell from the vendors’ carts was more enticing than usual. The chicken, bread, and fish on the grills only emphasized her hunger. She tried not to complain.
Never thought I’d be one of those starving people in other parts of the world that mothers always speak to their kids about to coerce them to finish their peas.
She caught a glimpse of herself in a window and evaluated.
So dusty, so dirty. Face still red, hair not as greasy. My dress—disgusting as ever.
She had used all the hand sanitizer. That meant her hands would never feel the teeniest bit clean. After a minute, she found an empty brown paper sack which appeared clean on the inside.
“Thank You, Lord, for my sack. I think I’ll go back to the bushes.” Once there, she crawled in her den. All the berries that are left, and there aren’t many, are green. Lord, help me to trust You.
Julie, I’m going to tell you something, and I want you to think about it for a while before you go to bed. The highest form of worship is rest.
She pictured a choir with all their members slouched in chairs.
“Explain, please?”
If you are resting, then you are trusting totally in Me. You won’t feel the need to control each situation, and that eliminates your stress and worry. When you learn to trust Me, that I will provide for you, you can relax, for the first time.
“But India is so demanding—”
I wasn’t talking about being in India; I mean you can relax for the very first time. You’re stressed at home, you’re stressed in India; you carry it with you, in your mind. When your mind stops racing to the problem, you can spend time with Me, and your body and mind will relax. Just let your muscles relax now.
She hadn’t realized how tense she was until she let go. Her shoulders relaxed, her teeth unclenched, she felt her face relax.
Take a few deep breaths and really relax because I promise that you and the orphans will eat tomorrow. If you can trust My promise, you can sleep in peace tonight, and every night. Remember, I brought you here, and I promise I have the plan. The quicker you believe that, the easier your life will be. Good night, My dear one. Remember, think about resting in Me. Rest your body and your mind. In My presence there is true peace.
What does it look like to rest? What must it be like to trust? She realized that her shoulders were tight again, and she was clenching her teeth. She took another deep breath and commanded herself, out loud, to relax.
“I renounce and resist the lie that I have to provide food tomorrow. I replace it with the truth that I’m not in charge of food tomorrow. The Lord is providing it. Not me. Him. He’s the provider, and I’ll be the one who carries it to the orphans. I’m going to have to remind myself about every five minutes.” OK, relax, deep breath….
She awoke with the same horrible morning breath as always. With her eyes still closed, she stretched her arms and legs and let out a moan. I’ll never get used to sleeping on this dirt, this dirty dirt. Where am I going to get food? Oops, it’s not my job.
“I renounce and resist the lie that there will be no food today in Jesus’ name. I replace it with the truth that You will provide. Help me to believe that You will provide.” When she opened her eyes she gasped. “Berries, the bushes are loaded, and they’re ripe!”
Julie, throughout your life I have performed many miracles, but most of them you didn’t notice. I want you to remember this one. Last night no berries; this morning the bushes are groaning under the weight of ripe, luscious berries. Remember when I provided manna each day for the children of Israel?1 This is a miracle just like that, only on a much smaller scale—but a miracle no less. My Word says not to forget the benefits I provide for you.2 Write them down and review them if you have to. It will help your attitude and make you a grateful person.
“Thank You, Lord. I can’t believe it. I mean, I do believe it. The berries are right before my eyes. You’re awesome.”
And, Julie, the shopkeeper will give you sandwiches, fruit, and drinks today. There are more berries than yesterday, and I happen to know that these are his son’s very favorite. The last ones he took home and enjoyed with his family. He’ll do the same thing with these. He’ll bless his son, and I’ll enjoy watching that. I love that man and his family.
Julie didn’t realize it, but as she picked, she was humming. She even ate a few of the berries herself, but restrained from overdoing it. There must be a gallon of berries. I can’t wait to see the shop owner’s face when he opens the sack.
She checked the verse for today and enjoyed reading how the Lord provided for the children of Israel for 40 years.3 “Whoa, their clothing and shoes never even wore out4—bummer for the ladies!”
Ravi and Sammy had slept in the hedgerow behind the dump as usual.
“Let’s wait here and see if she comes with food,” said Ravi. “I don’t want to wait in the alley wondering.”
The orphans were agitated again. Yesterday had shaken whatever confidence they had placed in Julie. They wondered if they would eat today if she didn’t show. Several of the girls gathered, sitting cross-legged in a circle. Shoba looked at Sashi and asked, “Do you think she’ll bring food today?”
“She did yesterday, even though she was late.”
“But she only brought sandwiches, and I was hungry all day long,” said Sapna, frowning.
“I know, me, too, but remember, we were hungry all the time before she came to help us,” replied Sashi.
The girls all nodded.
“Madhu can sell the things he makes, but I don’t know how to make things,” sighed Chavvi.
“But even if she only comes every other day, we’re still better than before. If she comes today, we need to thank her. I don’t even know why she brings us food at all,” said Sashi.
“Yeah,” piped little Shoba. “We’ll say thank you.”
“She seems a little nicer than at the beginning when she hit us with her purse,” said Chavvi.
Nilaya shivered at the memory.
“I think we just scared her. We were all around her grabbing and shoving,” said Sashi.
The thought of losing some of their food made these girls grateful for what they had received and hopeful for the future.
“Maybe sometime we can do something nice for her, too,” said Shoba.
“What could we do?” they all stared at each other and shrugged. “She likes it when we put the wrappers in her bag,” said Sashi.
Several of the other orphans jumped to their feet and pointed.
“She’s coming, and she has a sack.”
Sashi sprang into action.
“Stay here everyone, get in our circles. Sit down; we can eat quicker if we do.” Some of the children had to be guided to the circle, but by the time Julie arrived, they were all seated and squirming with excitement.
“Lunch tiiiime!” shouted Julie, holding up the bag with a huge smile on her face. Restrained pandemonium broke out when she pulled out the sandwiches. The children forced themselves to remain seated, but there was screaming, clapping, shouting, squirming, and smiling.
I wish I could lead them in a prayer of thanks for this miraculous food. God, I really need an interpreter. But I’ll thank You on behalf of them all. Thank You for being a God of miracles. Thank You for caring about these children. Thank You for providing for all of us and help me to trust You more. Bless this food to their bodies. And, Lord, help them to smell better or weaken my olfactory senses. Amen.
Sashi gave Nilaya’s food to her. After all the children had eaten, it was time for games. Even though they couldn’t understand, Julie called out, “OK, today I’m going to teach you a song called ‘Father Abraham.’ Everyone get in a circle.” The boys joined the girls today. Madhu sat out, content to watch the group while working on a toy made from a matchbox and string.
‘Father Abraham’ was as big a hit as the ‘Hokey Pokey,’ and they sang both songs several times. Julie caught a glimpse of Nilaya looking out from behind the tree mouthing the words. That poor little girl, what’s it going to take?
Ravi and Sammy were delighted watching the children laugh and move. Ravi had to clamp his hand over Sammy’s mouth to keep him from singing along.
“Shhhh. They can’t know we’re here.”
“Why not?”
“They just can’t. I’m not part of this group,” said Ravi.
“Maybe someday do you think you can be?”
Ravi looked at the ground, “I don’t know. Let’s go back to the alley and wait.”
They were too excited to waste time falling asleep when they heard Julie’s voice. Julie was in a good mood today, and her face lit up when she saw Ravi and Sammy sitting with their hands folded in their laps.
“Look at you two perfect gentlemen. I hope you’re hungry because I have….” she paused for effect, “sandwiches, oranges, and juice! Eat up, guys.”
As the boys ate, Julie chatted.
“I wish I could communicate. I have such an exciting story about the food today. It’s a miracle that you have it.” She told the story of the children of Israel.
“Yesterday I had to pick berries and trade them for sandwiches, and last night when I went to bed all the berries were gone and Jesus told me that He would provide the food and that I shouldn’t worry. When I woke up this morning, the same bushes were covered with berries. They weren’t there last night, not even green ones, and overnight Jesus made them appear just because He wants you to have food today. It’s so exciting. I’ll never forget it.”
Julie stopped talking when she noticed that both boys had only eaten half their sandwich and Ravi hadn’t opened his juice.
“What in the world? You only had a sandwich yesterday; you have to be starving.” She shook her head. Maybe he’s saving it for later. “I’ll be back tomorrow. I do wish you would come with me to the dump.” She waved and exited into the scorching sun. At least I hope I’ll be back tomorrow. You are going to provide food tomorrow, aren’t You, Lord?
She paused by a fence covered with blue vining flowers to wait for an answer.
Julie, do you remember a prayer that goes something like this? “Give us today our daily bread”?5 If I provided food for a month, where would you store it?
She chuckled. “Good point, Lord. But living day to day is so risky.”
That’s right, Julie; faith is spelled r-i-s-k.
At that point, Ravi came bursting out of the alley with Sammy doing his best to keep up. They both froze.
“Where are you two going in such a hurry?”
Ravi shrugged and headed back to the alley with Sammy lagging behind.
That’s strange. I wonder what they’re up to?
Ravi and Sammy waited five minutes and then peeked out. Julie was gone.
When they made it to the shopping center, Sammy’s eyes lit up.
“There he is—there’s Kumar.” They crossed the street and crouched between the cars.
“Give me your sandwich,” said Ravi.
Sammy’s eyes grew large, and when Ravi looked at him, he smiled his gaptoothed smile and shrugged.
“I forgot it, in the alley.”
“That’s OK. That gives me an idea.”
Kumar ran to Ravi. He reached toward the half sandwich and orange.
“Today you have to come with us. There’s another half a sandwich if you do.”
“I can’t. Mr. Shah will find me and kill me.”
“That’s what he told me, too, but he didn’t. How much is in your can today?”
Kumar hung his head. “Not enough.”
“Why would you turn down food to stay and get a beating from an evil man?”
Kumar looked at the sandwich and then at the street. He bit his lip. The silence was loud. Finally Sammy took Kumar’s right hand, gave him a big smile and said, “Come on. I’ll race you there,” as he pointed to his bum leg. Kumar flailed his left stump and laughed. Then Sammy began walking with Kumar by his side. When they arrived at the alley, Kumar devoured his food as a smiling Ravi looked on.
Kumar had been working for Mr. Shah for about three weeks. During that time, he had never once made his daily quota.
“After the second week, he cut off my arm to make me a better beggar, but I still didn’t get enough money. I am terrified he will do something even worse.”
“You’re safe now. Mr. Shah had us, too, but we escaped.”
“Ravi rescued me!” chirped Sammy.
“As long as we stay together, we can help each other,” said Ravi. “I saw a movie once about cowboys and Indians.”
“What are cowboys?” asked Sammy.
“The cowboys take care of cows and they fight the Indians.”
His brow furrowed. “Why were they fighting us?”
“They weren’t fighting us, they were fighting other Indians.”
“There are other Indians, and they have sacred cows?”
“Not sacred cows, regular cows.”
“What are regular cows?”
“I just brought up the cowboys because they all stayed together and helped each other.”
“I want to be a cowboy,” shouted Sammy.
“We are cowboy brothers then.”
“What’s that mean?” asked Sammy.
“It means,” said Kumar, his face brightening, “that we all take care of each other all the time.” Sammy beamed.
Ravi entertained the two by telling action scenes from the movie. The boys spent the rest of the afternoon wearing imaginary cowboy hats and acting out the scenes using sticks for guns. Kumar startled with ever sound, especially cars driving by.
After a break from their pretend fighting, Kumar asked, “Do you take turns staying up as guard while the other sleeps?”
“No, we don’t need to. We go to the dump. There’s lots of orphans there.”
“We sleep in the bushes so they don’t know we’re there,” said Sammy.
Kumar looked to Ravi.
“Um, the lady who takes care of us, before I knew her, I, um, I stole her purse.”
“And she still takes care of you?”
“Yes.”
“So why do you have to hide from her at the dump?”
“I don’t think the other kids like me for stealing her purse.”
“Do they beat you up when you go there?”
“I don’t know. They haven’t seen me,” said Ravi, looking at the ground. “We just sleep under the hedge where they don’t see us. It feels safe.”
“Safe,” piped Sammy, smiling.
A car door slammed, and Kumar flinched.
“It’s OK,” said Ravi. “After a week or so you won’t be nervous.”
“It’s getting dark, can we go to the dump?” asked Sammy.
Kumar was hesitant to leave the safety of the alley. They all walked slowly because of Sammy’s limp. Kumar turned when he walked, forward, side, and back, scanning the street for Mr. Shah’s green car. They approached the hedge from the back and shimmied underneath.