Thank You for Letting Me See a Ray of Light

Translated by Dawn Lim

One morning, Aunt Ming (not her real name) went to the wet market on her motorcycle as usual. That was the place she made her living. After parking her motorcycle, she made her way to the wet market. Suddenly, her vision went black and she could not see anything …

A doctor’s diagnosis suggested that Aunt Ming’s blood glucose level was too high, causing one of her eyes to be completely blind and the other to be nearly blind. She must give up her favourite iced coffee and maintain a healthy diet. The doctor has advised her to consume Abbott Glucerna, a nutritious milk powder, to lower her blood sugar level. Three volunteers from Permata Baptist Church visited Aunt Ming after receiving a call from her younger brother seeking help.
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During the visit, the volunteers learned that Aunt Ming is a widow living in a four-wall empty house with her only son. Her son’s income is meagre and they have always been living frugally. What worries her most is not her illness, but her inability to continue working and her long-term need to take this expensive nutritious milk powder, which will definitely increase her son’s burden. Consequently, the Church helped her to apply for the 7979 Manna Food Bank which would also include the free supply of the nutritious milk powder to reduce her living expenses. Recently, the volunteers noticed that there was no washing machine in Aunt Ming’s house. They remembered a Church sister had recently replaced her old but functional washing machine with a new one. The volunteers immediately arranged for delivery of the used washing machine to Aunt Ming’s house. Aunt Ming is deeply moved by the good gestures as what seems to be a normal observation of her needs by the volunteers has allowed her, who is nearly blind, to see a ray of light.