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“Pastor, you need to be careful around Flora, because she always begs for money.”

This is the warning my husband and I received from a well-meaning church member about twenty years ago. Did we turn away from Flora’s requests for help? Sometimes, but to this day we still respond to her pleas for help.

Why help someone who is chronically poor? I am convinced that God wants to deliver her from poverty.  The Psalmist says, “I have never seen the righteous begging bread.” So why is it that Flora still experiences hunger and want? One reason is that Flora is so others-centered that she will help someone else to her own hurt. I found out recently that she has given up a stipend that she could be receiving because her sister declares her address for the census and receives the stipend; only one person in a household can receive that stipend. That sister knows Jesus now, thanks to Flora’s love and witness through the years. But when their mother was still alive, Flora carried the financial burden and responsibility for caring for her mother ALONE. . . with no help from her sibling!

Why help Flora?  She is a widow.  Her husband deserted the family—Flora and her two children—when the children were young.  About ten years ago, Flora lost her son to a freak motorcycle accident. Her daughter is married with four children and no longer gives to her mom in times of need. And yet because of her daughter’s income, Flora is no longer eligible for welfare. Welfare enabled Flora to see the doctors much more cheaply; now it is very expensive for her to see the doctor, and her body needs more trips to the hospital now that she is almost sixty-five years old. She is even watching a suspicious spot in her uterus; she has already suffered a double mastectomy years ago.

Flora will retire in another half a year.  But she has no money saved for retirement; she cashed it in a few years back when she was trying to sell health supplements.

Sparrow’s House ministry has enabled Flora to make some extra money to make ends meet.  There are times when manager Ms. Huang (pictured to the left of Yingmei)  gives her an advance because Flora does not even have enough money to eat. But Flora is not afraid to work, and she welcomes the crafts that she can do for Sparrow’s House to help relieve her financial need.

This year Flora did not draw the lot for a government sponsored job for the needy--cleaning the streets of Taipei.  That means she is out of a job.  She has looked for other work, and hopes to be a janitor indoors, out of the cold, wind, and rain. But Sparrow’s House is stepping out in faith to give Flora a small business loan with no interest. We have bought  for her a health machine which she will use for herself and her sister.  When they see improvements in their health, then they will be able to sell it to others. Thankfully, we have a friend who sells it to us for less than cost. I am using the machine and experiencing its benefits. So one day as I prayed for Flora, asking God why she is still experiencing poverty, the thought of helping her begin this small business popped into my head.  I received it as from the Lord. May the Lord give Flora good success.  We will sign a contract with her, asking that she begin repaying the loan in three months, and to pay it off by the end of the year, interest free.