Rosio is a mother of three in Huascar, Maribel age 5, Davis age 4 and a baby boy not quite 5 months old. Franci and I first met her last year because we would visit the Wawa Wasi daycare where she took her eldest son, Davis. We played with Davis in the Wawa Wasi on a weekly basis and through this connection we were able to get to know Rosio a bit when she picked Davis up in the afternoon. We built a relationship with her and started discipling her in the street outside the Wawa Wasi in the afternoons. But as life goes, things changed in Rosio’s life, she wasn’t taking Davis to daycare anymore and we rarely saw her around. Occasionally we would see her hiking up the hill to her house and would have a chance to chat with her a minute here and there. And just a few weeks ago, we saw Rosio walking up the hill to her house with her new baby boy on her back wrapped in a bright pink blanket, her two older kids in tow, and her husband by her side. Rosio stopped as we said hello and Franci and I met her husband for the first time, a young man who looks exactly almost like their son Davis, just an older version.
Today, walking around in Huascar, we saw another contact, Rogelia, with Rosio sitting outside in the sun warming up. (We’ve been freezing here the past few weeks and any chance to warm up in the sun is rare and therefore welcomed!) As Franci and I headed up the hill heading toward Rogelia’s house where the ladies were sitting, Rogelia and Rosio’s kids came running down the hill to give us kisses and hugs. And Rosio’s daughter Maribel started calling me tia (aunt) out of the blue. Adorable, I thought. I had no inclination of what was going to happen next.
Franci and I arrived at the top of the hill and greeted the ladies. Right away Rogelia told me Rosio was sad, of course I asked why and what was going on. Rogelia informed me that Rosio’s husband passed away. Shocked and saddened, Franci and I sat down on either side of Rosio and attempted to console her. But what do you say in a time like this? There are no words. I asked if we could pray with her and so Rogelia, Rosio, Franci and myself, sitting on rocks with the sun beaming down on us, prayed for Rosio and this incredible tragedy she is facing. It brought tears to my eyes as I prayed for God’s hand over her life and the lives of her three children.
With no words, after the prayer I held Rosio’s hand as I sat by her and she told us what had happened. Apparently, two weeks ago, her husband started acting weird, he didn’t know who anyone was and in this state of mind, he left to climb the mountain by their house, alone and was gone, for how long, I’m not sure. Apparently, he made it back home, the family quite worried yet glad to see him. But, by the time he arrived home, his condition was worse, he had lost all memory of his family and who he was and complained of a headache. His family took him to the hospital and he passed there.
Rosio continued to tell us that she has nothing and no one here in Puno. She and her husband with their kids had been living with his mother and now his mother, the grandmother of these three kids, is telling Rosio she’s going to kick her out. Rosio’s own parents have passed and her siblings live in northern Peru. Literally, she has no one here other than her friends like Rogelia.
Although saddened by this story and the reality Rosio faces now, we were able to share in a few laughs as we continued to chat and it was precious to see a smile on Rosio’s face. Then, when Rosio got up to talk to another neighbor who had been passing by, Rogelia told Franci and I that just before we came, Rosio asked her if we (Franci and I) were still coming around to teach the Bible. She told Rogelia she hadn’t come down to see us like before and she wants to begin studying the Bible again.
God is so incredible! He works all the pieces together! Franci and I had no intention of visiting Rogelia today, we had no idea we would see Rosio, we just happened to be walking up the hill and saw the kids running down to us with their mothers above in the sun. God gave us sun this afternoon to warm our spirits and our bodies, but He also gave us sun which in turn brought the ladies outside to warm up and brought us to them so we would have the chance to pray with Rosio and reconnect with her during this difficult time.
Please help us in prayer for Rosio and her three children. Pray for His peace in her heart, for His comfort in her soul. Pray that she would seek God during this time, that from this tragedy, she would experience God in a very real way. And pray that God would provide everything this single mother and her children need from shoes to food to a house.
Here’s where we sat with the ladies today, on the rocks between the green door and the blue door, where Rogelia lives.
Davis, age 4. Dad made a special connection with Davis while Mom and Dad were here visiting in June. Dad and Davis were pretty much inseparable while we were in the Wawa Wasi daycare. 
