Meet Jackie, Our EWT "Food Doctor"

How thankful we are for Jackie, our “Food Doctor!”  Jackie is a staff assistant who cooks for our staff and keeps our office in pristine condition. She is a bundle of joy who has been an overcomer since she was a little girl.

Both of Jackie’s parents died when she was three-years-old. Her mom died immediately after giving birth to her younger brother. Jackie’s grandmother told her she was born in 1990, but is not sure. 

People in the village rejected Jackie and she had no where to go. Because her younger brother was premature at birth and since their mother had died, Jackie took care of him herself. She had to stop going to school in third grade because there was no one to pay for school and no one to take care of her and her little brother. Her grandmother tried to help but struggled also.

In time, Jackie met a Ugandan woman named Joy who worked for Save the Children. Joy saw how Jackie was farming and doing domestic work in order to pay for her brother to go to school. Jackie’s prayer was that she could always continue to work to help her brother. God answered Jackie’s prayer by allowing Jackie to be the caregiver to Joy’s child.

Meanwhile, Jackie’s uncle (who had never shown concern for her) joined politics. People in the village challenged him by saying that if he really cared for people, he would help orphans in his own family . . . and because, people refused to vote for him, he started helping Jackie. By that time, Jackie had already paid for her brother to go to school from grades 1-5. The uncle found Jackie (now age 16 or 17) still taking care of Joy’s child and her little brother. He took her for training in tailoring and catering.  Meanwhile, Jackie continued to work and pay for her brother to go to school.

Jackie finished her training and tried to do domestic work in town, but there was little pay which made her life hard.  Then a person at her church knew that Jireh Children’s Home needed a worker and recommended Jackie. Soon after, Jackie joined EWT. The year was in 2012.

Since that time, Jackie has made it her habit to get up nearly every morning at 2:00 a.m. to pray. If she is very tired, she gets up at 5:00 a.m.  Jackie prays that she will be a good example in her home. She prays for the children and ministry at Jireh Children’s Home as well as for children not in the program. She also prays for EWT Bible studies. This is where Jackie learned to read

Jackie says she prays for the children because she knows what is to grow up as an orphan.  We join her in prayer for the children as well and thank God for his promise in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

We want to join with Jackie as she earnestly and humbly prays for a husband who will love her and never abandon her. Pray for the husband who will see Jackie as the Proverbs 31 woman she really is: a good administrator, businesswoman, philanthropist, teacher, and ‘Food Doctor” for many. 

Jackie exemplifies the heart of Proverbs 31: “A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.”  Proverbs 31:30.