A Mother Struggles To Feed Her Hungry Children
Answered Prayers for Hungry Children
In El Salvador, the constant challenges of living in extreme poverty are often overwhelming for Marta, 25, who struggles to feed her hungry children. “I didn’t have a single grain of corn these days,” Marta said. “And then I was worried because the children asked me for food, and I didn’t know what to do.”
She especially worries about 2-year-old Alejandra who, unlike her siblings, isn’t old enough to attend school, where she would be able to get something to eat.
With little education and young children to care for, Marta has few job prospects. She earns some money washing other people’s clothes in the river. But it is not enough to feed her children, and she is forced to rely on the help of others.
Marta leans on the Lord for strength. “When you have nothing to eat, there have been days when we haven’t had anything to eat, I feel downhearted,” she said, “and I say to myself: How am I going to do today? And I kneel down to beg the Lord to take away that anguish from me and to give us our daily bread.”
Never missing her nightly prayer, Marta models devotion and faith for her children. “At night, I cover them [my children] so that they sleep well,” she said, “and I kneel down to ask the Lord to give me more strength, to keep giving me more strength and encouragement to go on with my children.”
“I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”
(Philippians 4:13, NIV)
