Nicole T. Walters

  • About
    • Meet Nicole
    • Disclosure
  • Writing
  • Listen. Learn. Love.
  • Publications and Media
  • Books & Magazine
  • Contact
  • Home

Rising Together 1

March 9, 2020 Diversity and global voices

A Beautiful Tapestry of Women Rising Together. for the Mudroom.

You’d think she was a celebrity, the way I watched her from across the room. I tried to work up the nerve to speak to her but the taste of salt in the back of my throat gave me pause. I didn’t want to embarrass her and I didn’t want to cry. But I wanted her to know what seeing her in that place meant to me. 

She was just like every other woman at the conference that weekend. They were the farthest from celebrities you could get. Many were known only to those inside their villages. They had come together to encourage each other, some of them the only followers of Christ in their home area. I heard their stories over the span of those few days, the depth of their hardships and the hope they clung to in the midst of them.

I watched her quietly as she listened to the speaker. Her eyes sometimes closed as she savored the Scripture being read. Other times she leaned forward in her seat. She would tuck her headscarf behind her ear and laugh. I strained to get the joke, my feeble Bangla skills failing me.

The first time I’d seen her face was on my computer screen. My husband and I were sitting in our bedroom over 8000 miles away from this place. We’d been planning for over a year to move to India to work for a non-profit focusing on education and economic development. We had visas in our passports that gave us permission to go. Our house was about to go on the market. I had already quit my job. And then the organization we were going to work for found themselves facing issues with obtaining the permissions to have foreign workers. We were left asking God, “what now?”

Another organization expressed interest in having us work with them. They were located in India’s tiny neighboring country, Bangladesh. We were especially moved by the idea of empowering vulnerable women with skills to provide for themselves and their families.

They sent us a video about the work they were doing with child brides who were suffering from medical issues that arose from pregnancies their too-young bodies couldn’t handle. Most were then divorced and ostracized from their families. Once the women received surgeries that allowed them physical healing, they attended tailoring classes that gave them a marketable skill.

We watched this woman in a remote area on the other side of the world talk about how her life had been changed by the program. When she was asked about her plans for the future, she laughed. She said her plans were just to make clothes for her family and have a good life, a simple life. A life that honored God. 

We sat silently for a few minutes after hearing her story, afraid to say the words that marked the finality of what we knew would come next. This was it. We would be moving to Bangladesh...

mudroomiconsmall

CONTINUE READING AT THE MUDROOM

SUBSCRIBE
Want new blog posts slipped into your inbox? Subscribe and get the latest!
Featured On:
Fathom
CT Women
incourage
Everbloom
Red Letter Christians
Relevant Magazine
SheLoves Magazine: a global community of women who love
The Mudroom
Ready
Search this Site
Recent Posts
  • The Mathematics of Life
  • Disturb Us, O Lord
  • Courage and Grit: The Story of Rickshaw Girl
  • Taking the Risk of Living My Own Life
  • Onward
Recent Comments
  • Eli on Courage and Grit: The Story of Rickshaw Girl
  • Donny on Courage and Grit: The Story of Rickshaw Girl
  • Agueda on Courage and Grit: The Story of Rickshaw Girl
  • Lora on Courage and Grit: The Story of Rickshaw Girl
  • Graciela on Courage and Grit: The Story of Rickshaw Girl
Archives
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
Recent Posts
  • The Mathematics of Life
  • Disturb Us, O Lord
  • Courage and Grit: The Story of Rickshaw Girl
  • Taking the Risk of Living My Own Life
  • Onward
  • Looking for the Perfect Fit
2023 © Nicole T. Walters
Squirrel theme by SavvyThemes