The village of “Big Grassy Riverbank” sits in the shadow of the mountain shown in the picture. It is an absolutely gorgeous place!
The reality, however, is that this small village, located at the end of a horrendously rough dirt and rock road, is one of the poorest in this province, if not all of China. On a good year, the average income of one of the few dozen households might reach $60/month, or $2 per day.
This afternoon I visited this village and the mountain in the picture. I met one family in particular that kept an eye out for my car while I was hiking around on the mountain. They also treated me to dinner when I got back down.
There were only 4 people in the house for dinner, besides me. The mother of the home, a younger lady with a 10 month baby boy (same age as Gabriel!) who crawled all over the place all day with only a shirt on (no pants or diaper whatsoever!), and a 10 year old girl who does not know how to read and cannot go to school because there is no school.
Needless to say, this is a needy area and I was privileged to have the chance to meet these people and find out about their needs. I would love to be able to arrange for someone to spend a number of days each week out in this village teaching the younger children how to read and write! There are many other things that could also be done to bless these people, but we need wisdom and the right timing in all that we do.
This village is nearly 100% Muslim and I need to make a point of befriending the local Ahong (Muslim Cleric/Pastor) because he is likely to be the major authority figure in this whole community.
Please join me in praying for all of these people!
