Rosa’s Hard Life

While we are glad to share uplifting stories of the wonderful marvels the Lord does in our midst — stories of missing youth recovered, food multiplied, and people healed — sometimes we need to share a heartbreaking tale as well, since they are interwoven into the fabric of our ministry with the poor here on the border.

Broken down truck was home to Rosa and her son
Rosa and her son’s home when we first met them.

Some people seem to have more than their share of suffering in their lives, and Rosa Martinez is one of those. We first met Rosa in 2005 when she and her young son Juan were living in a broken-down truck parked in a relative’s yard. A single mom struggling to provide for her son and herself, they were desperately poor and malnourished. We put her on our list to receive groceries each week and eventually built them a simple home. We helped with her son’s tuition so he could go to school, and with the nutritious food they were now receiving regularly, the future looked much more hopeful. And then she was diagnosed with cancer.

Rosa is a survivor and a fighter, and after several months of  chemotherapy and radiation, she was in remission. She started volunteering to help us deliver groceries to the homebound, sick and elderly. Each Friday she joins one of our vans that wind its way through the hills and dirt roads to deliver food to those in need. A woman of few words, Rosa gets to work and does whatever needs to be done and has become a valued member of our team.

Rosa helping package food for distribution to the poor.

Then came another blow — her son was diagnosed with leukemia. After fighting that for a while, he succumbed to despair. He started using drugs and lost interest in school. One morning last month, Rosa got up and went to the bathroom. There she found her son dead, having committed suicide.

What can one say in the face of such human suffering?! All we could do is weep and mourn with her. “I have nothing left to live for now,” she sobbed. “I just want to die.”

We ask you to please say a pray for Rosa. She is suffering greatly and needs our support and love. She has great faith in God and finds solace in continuing her work of serving others in need.