James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

It is grey, drizzling and cold- the wind is coming up. I stand on a wet, wobbly junk aluminum chair alongside a rusting, corrugated-zinc and timber shack.  I am putting up a wire to provide supplemental lighting for Zandile’s hens who spend their nights in an abandoned travel trailer nearby. The day is now 11 hours long; these hens need 14 to 16 hours lightning to lay most effectively. As I oscillate back and forth on wet unsteady feet trying to tie a knot in the wire to the beam above my head, I wonder if I will break this chair, a valuable item to this poor family, or just fall down and get hurt. Thankfully, neither happens. I set up the new incubator with Zandile that I have brought for her. 

Later we sit inside and Zandile’s Discovering God Together group gathers for their weekly meeting. In attendance are eight including her cousin Siya. I remember first meeting Siya about three months ago. Siya was setting out clean water for the chickens, and she smelled of alcohol. One of the first questions a Discovery group asks every week is:  “What are some of the needs you or people in your community have?” In front of eight of her close neighbors, Siya says: “I need to stop drinking.” God has entered the room.

Siya has HIV and tuberculosis. She almost died a few months ago. She has been drinking for years. A horrible taxi accident three years ago left her with steel plates and rods in her hip, arm and without much use in her left hand. Currently she drinks about four liters (a gallon) a day of the beer Carling Black Label, 5.5 percent alcohol by volume.  This is a total of about eight drinks per day by American equivalence standards.

The Scripture is the story of Noah in Genesis 6:5-8, where God’s disappointment with man is described, and his drastic plan to make a new start. These verses make us reflect on our sins. I think about my own problems with impatience when confronted with people not coming through. Siya’s honesty about her drinking is inspirational. The group makes a plan with Siya, to help her meet her goals. She will cut back to three liters per day week one, two liters week two, one liter week three, ½ liter per day week four, and completely stop drinking by week five. They will talk to the woman who owns the local tavern to limit her access to Carling Black Label, as well as take Siya’s money to buy the things she needs for her house so she doesn’t have excess free cash.  Siya will not go to town, where she always ends up drinking. This is a rural setting. We pray with Siya and she is crying.

Siya is a woman who really wants to change, and she has confessed this in front of her neighbors. This is the boldness of the Holy Spirit. How many of us are this brave? I am inspired to lose about 15 pounds, similar to Siya’s plan to cut back on her drinking. Her neighbors will help her keep it real. They understand all the stresses that Siya faces. What liberation it is to confess our needs in front of the Living God and our neighbors. Please say a prayer for Siya if you are reading this.

Yours in Christ,
Rick Gutierrez