She was alone out on the wind-swept steppes with her willow-branch basket on her back and her little rake-like scoop to toss dried manure into it with. I needed a photo of this to show my friends how the only available fuel was collected for the ger stove. I asked my jeep driver to stop and my interpreter, Nara, and I walked over to ask for permission to take a photo. She obliged, and this "snap-happy development tourist" was soon ready to drive away.

Nara (short for Narantuya) continued to speak to the lady whose name was also Narantuya. She explained briefly to her that we were visiting 9 distribution points and that ADRA was trying to assist those affected by the "dzud" that caused the death of 2.3 million of Mongolia's livestock. I was in a hurry to move on, but decided to hear what this lady's experience was during the "dzud".

They had lived a fairly comfortable life before, but the "dzud" had wiped out their entire herd of 10 milking cows. This meant that there were now no dairy products throughout the summer months and none of the traditional cheese had been stored for the winter. There was no money for school, medicines or household needs. Things looked bleak as we probed into the family's predicament. I asked where she lived, and she pointed to a ger against the side of a hill about a kilometer away. Even at this distance I could see that the ger was patched and that it was not the snow-white color of the average Mongolian ger.

The ADRA truck bringing up the load of goods for distribution stopped next to us. I asked Gana, the driver, to get out two boxes of food kindly given to ADRA to distribute for the LDS Church. They had asked ADRA to distribute two 40-foot containers of food boxes. These were nifty 13 kg boxes that contained flour, rice, noodles, milk powder, oil and even some canned goods. I also asked that Gana hand me down a canvas ger cover that we gave to poor families to waterproof their gers with. We invited the lady into the jeep and drove down through the valley and up to her ger.

I was puzzled by the youngest daughter's reaction to seeing her mother in the jeep with us. I guessed her age to be 5 years. She burst out crying and was almost hysterical. Mother tried to assure her and I dug into the jeep to find some biscuits to give her. Both seemed to help as soon the crying subsided to occasional deep sobs. I was curious to know the reason for the child's reaction, but only found out after we drove away when Nara explained to me what I had not picked up in Mongolian. The child's last recall of her father had been when they came to take him away in a jeep never to return again. He had died in hospital during the "dzud". Now she was convinced that they had come to take Mommy away too.

I was able to take a photo of the family in front of their threadbare ger. Three of the 6 children were not present. I dug into my pocket and handed $15 to the mother as we parted. I just knew it would be spent wisely. I was amazed and humbled at how we had been led to help this destitute family by my simple desire for a photo.

Perhaps the parting words of the mother had the greatest sobering effect on me. She said, "It feels as if God has visited my house today."

Have you visited someone for Him today?

Llewellyn Juby