Her Story

Irene.

Irene is the mother of Roshan and Reema. She is a small woman, but has faith larger than anyone I have ever met. She shared some of her story with us, and I want to share it with you.

When Roshan was 6 and Reema was 2.5 years old, their father, who was a tall and handsome Indian man, was murdered. The entire city was shaken because he was of such stature that everyone new about him and also about his murder.

Now Irene and he had saved up some money and were living a comfortable life with their family. They had been sending money to his sister for safekeeping. When he was killed, the sister and his family decided to keep the money and sent Irene and Reema out on the street. They wanted to keep Roshan because he “had the look of his father.” Irene, of course, didn’t want Roshan to grow up Hindu, and despite their taunts and objections, she took both her children and left for Shimoga to be with her family.

Around the same time, Irene’s father died and there was nobody to provide for her mother and sisters. There were no jobs in Shimoga that could possibly feed all these mouths, so Irene left for Kuwait. In Kuwait, she basically became a slave to a rich family who confiscated her passport and forbid her from praying or reading her bible. The family was very cruel to her. So much so that they would work her all day and then find more chores for her to do at night. She talked about how one night at midnight they told her to get up, and go wash both of their cars. If she would try and sneak away to read the bible, her coworkers, who were Muslims like the family, would tattle on her to the family and she would get scolded. I got the impression that a scolding was more than just words, but I didn’t ask because the wounds are still evident when she talks about it. She would pray each day to god when she could for deliverance. “How am I supposed to live in this house?” she would ask herself and God. Irene worked 18-hour days and went bed very late. She would wake herself up and pray for two hours each morning in secret so that she could have some time with God.

One day, the family had a premature baby with lots of health issues. On top of her load of work, the family gave the care of this child to Irene. The child had a hole in her heart, crossed legs, and lots of other problems. The child could not eat or sleep very well, so it cried often. Each time the baby would cry, Irene would be scolded by the family as if she was somehow not preventing the baby from crying, but of course, babies cry. Each day on top of her normal work, Irene would have to care for this child. She did love the child, but the family was unbearable.

After many years of praying for this family there was a night like many other nights where Irene was holding the child as she cried and cried. The man of the house came out and called for Irene. She fearfully went expecting to get a scolding, but something amazing happened. He said, I will care for the girl; you go read your bible. This was a sign that Irene had been praying for and an answer to prayer.

Irene was away from her children for 13 years. Towards the end of this the child was born to the family. When it was evident more medical care was needed for the child, they flew her and her caregiver, Irene, out to John’s Hopkin’s Hospital. Everywhere she went, Irene loved and cared for others and they loved her in return. The family forbid Irene from having outside contact with others at the hospital, but nonetheless others took a liking to Irene, and if you met her, you would too.

At the hospital, Irene met Bob and Kristen Roach, who were there to care for their son who was born premature. When they learned of Irene’s story, they decided to send her the equivalent of her salary so she could see her children who she had been away from for 13 years. She took a huge step of faith and went back to India hoping that Bob and Kristen would keep their word, which of course they did. She fed all the people of her family with this money and was reunited with her children.

Now this is where you would expect the story to end, but it doesn’t more to come tomorrow.

How about some more pics of the kids?