A Woman Named Esther . . .

Okay, so she wasn't named Esther, and she wasn't married to a king.  But, she did seem to come along "for such a time as this . . ."

When I traveled to the DRC to investigate what had happened with JP's case, I wanted to hire people who did not have connections or allegiance to either party involved.  We hired a gentleman who worked for some missionaries to be my translator, who I will call M & M, and then we hired a private investigator that we knew worked with another organization, Esther.

I cannot tell you how dear these people are to me.  They were with me from sunup to sundown, working through lunch (without lunch, mind you), to try to understand the truth.  We spent a great deal of time waiting on people and talking with one another.  Even halfway across the world, we all worshipped the same God (I didn't ask for that; it just happened that way), and our conversations often turned to His provision.  At the end of both the meeting with our in-country representative and the birth family, we all prayed.  I remember M & M walking down the street with me to find a place to meet the birth family, and he said, "Kristen, I take care of you."  And, I knew he would.

If M & M was my lifeline on that trip, Esther was the watch dog.  In our meetings, she would sit quietly, listening to all parties, and then she would interject with a really strong observation. She was not afraid to argue with me, nor was she afraid to ask a question that made someone else feel uncomfortable.  She was tenacious.  She did not speak English at all, so I remember one morning when she and I used iTranslate on my iPad to have a conversation.  We maybe understood 80% of what the other person said before the WiFi at the hotel went out, and we had to go back to staring at one another until M & M arrived.

Those days with M & M and Esther are days I will not soon forget.

I decided to leave the DRC one day early.  I did not even tell M & M until he arrived to bring me a new phone, as I had dropped the other one and did not want to be in transit without a phone.  He was shocked, but he understood.  He and I said goodbye, but I did not have the chance to say goodbye to Esther.   I sent her my thanks through M & M, and headed out of DRC.

A few days later, forgetting that she and I even had each other's email address, I received an email from her. For the next six weeks, the emails from Esther always said the same thing--the family is struggling to care for JP.  Honestly, I wished she would not email me these things:  it made it that much more difficult.  I could not be of any help, and I could not make any promises to her or to the family.  My constant reply was one or more of the following--I am sorry they are struggling.  We still want to help, but we don't know if we will be able to adopt.   We will continue to pray for you and for the family.  At one point, Esther was so bothered by the family's plight that our organization's leader asked her to step back.  I sent a message thanking her for all she had done to help.

But, she didn't give up.  She kept in touch with JP and his mother: first, at JP's uncle's house, then at the birth mother's cousin's house; and finally, at the hospital, where JP's birth mother had to go because she was not receiving proper care while she cared for JP.  Esther used her own money for transportation, and she used her own time to visit, an amazing thing when people have so little.    

And, her actions did not come without incredible consequence.  She definitely saved us from losing JP forever.  I think she may have saved the family from abandoning JP to an orphanage where he would not get proper care.  And, in the end, she may have saved his life.

And, we never asked for her help.  It took everything in me not to try to direct the course of Esther's words or actions toward the family, but I had nothing to offer that could sustain there.  So, we just prayed and encouraged and waited.

In response to our request for her not to be involved any more, she sent a message to me. It said (via Google Translate and my own attempt to piece the sentences together), "I have investigated other cases and been able to leave them, but for some reason, I feel I am not finished with this one yet. I always pray to God that He would lay problems on my heart."

And, so He did.  He moved the spirit of this sweet, tenacious woman to fight for JP.  And we will be forever grateful for this specific answer to prayer, by a small woman on the other side of the world.