Pay Rent or Feed My Baby?

Chiangmai, Thailand

After her husband abandoned her, a single mom named Mai was grateful to find work at a garment factory in Thailand where she lives with her 1-year-old son. Then covid-19 caused the factory to shut down, and Mai lost her job.

“I was so worried that I couldn’t sleep,” she told. I thought ‘How can I buy food or pay the rent?’ I was afraid the landlord would kick us out. My parents died and we would have nowhere else to go!” 

Mai, who is a skilled seamstress, did a few sewing jobs at home and made enough just to cover the rent. That meant there was no money left for food. At times they only had a little rice with salt to eat. Some days the food ran out.

“For two days, my son and I had nothing but water to drink,” she said. “He cried because he was so hungry. As a mother, it broke my heart. I hugged him and thought, ‘If we die, we die together. If we survive, we survive together.’ I prayed that God would not let us starve to death. I asked Him to send someone to help us.”

Mai’s prayers were answered when Operation Blessing came for a visit. At first, we brought boxes of food, rice, eggs, noodles, fish and milk. We also gave Mai some soap, masks and diapers. Then we paid her rent for her “room” for 2 months.

Finally, we hired her to make masks for Operation Blessing to give away for free for those who can’t afford them.  

“I am so happy!” she said with a smile. “It’s like I died and came back to life! My son and I would have been forced to live on the streets and starve. God has given us a new life through your kindness. Thank you for loving me and my son!”