Watching me from across the hardware store, the lady looked interested, but not in a way that would harm me. So I resumed my shopping. She kept an eye on me for nearly half an hour as I did my calculations and purchased what I needed for my project.

After I walked out of the store, the woman, a local, approached me. “Excuse me. Are you a missionary?”

Although this is not a common greeting I hear, I replied, “Yes, I am. What can I do for you?”

“I found this money in a pocket when I purchased some clothes at a secondhand store,” she said, showing me some New Zealand currency. “I took it to the bank. They said it was worth 80 PNG Kina, but they could not exchange it for me without full travel documents, so they suggested I find a missionary and exchange it directly with them. Can you help me?”

Orion, who had been listening to the conversation, pulled out his phone and looked up the current exchange rate, then told me, “That’s the correct rate.”

So I turned to her and said, “Yes, I’m happy to help you.”

As I gave her the PNG Kina in exchange for her New Zealand dollars, her face glowed with happiness. “I can finally use this money to help my family.”

I hoped to spend more time getting to know about her and her family. She seemed like such a pleasant, resilient and patient woman . . . but she smiled and turned away too soon, perhaps thinking this was the only thing she currently needed from a missionary.

As she walked away, I began praying for her, that the next time she talks to a missionary, she will be ready to ask them to pray for her or to share their favorite verse of scripture.

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