On Friday my daughter and I were joined by four former students, Sarah, Daniel, Jackie and Elise, who prayed across from the front door while I scooted up and down the sidewalk. Friday was busy; well before the official opening time the parking lot was already full. On the whole, it was an unresponsive group. Initially I was nervous that I wouldn’t have enough envelopes; in the end, though, I think there were only two who even took them. However, as closed as they all appeared (and the cold might have had a lot to do with that), only half of the crowd actually remained the duration of the morning.
Later that morning my daughter and I began the rounds: diapers to Maria, diapers and groceries to Juanita down in River Rouge, and Norma we took to look at an apartment.
On Saturday we had Alicia back. The previous evening she and her family had returned from two weeks in Texas. The morning was not as busy as Friday had been. By eight o’clock four appointments had arrived. One of them did leave.
We had to leave 15 to 20 minutes earlier than usual. The previous day, long after the abortion appointments had gone in and after we had left, a Mexican woman went to the abortuary to make an appointment for later in the week. The street preacher, Chris, was there, and succeeded in getting her phone number. He then called Alicia, who was on a flight lay-over in Memphis. In the course of her return from Texas, Alicia talked twice to Rosa. On Saturday morning, then, we left the mill a little early in order to see Rosa before she left for work. We visited with her about 45 minutes, the conversation carried completely in Spanish. Rosa’s situation was like many others–three other children, no husband. It was one of the most wonderful dialogues I have ever witnessed; Rosa was completely fixed on Alicia, her eyes intense, asking questions, not trying to excuse or justify what she had contemplated.
As with all our mothers, we will take it one step at at a time. She has a DTE bill for over $700.00. That’s the first challenge.
