She’s hung with First Lady Laura Bush and American Idol contestant Melinda Doolittle, but you would never recognize her name or her face. But when you hear her story, you can’t help but see her as a hero, as someone who deserves to be well-known.

Every so often at work we have “Lunch and Learn” events, where you bring your lunch and learn about a certain topic. Sometimes you’ll hear about a project in a different country, and sometimes you’ll learn about something new going on within the organization. Today’s Lunch and Learn was an intimate gathering with Lister Chingangu, a caregiver from Zambia. Over the past three weeks, she has visited 13 states, speaking at churches and also advocating on Capitol Hill for government funding to fight AIDS, malaria, and TB.

Last year, when Laura Bush and Melinda Doolittle visited Zambia and handed out mosquito nets, Lister was there. She and Mrs. Bush greeted one another with a handshake. This time, when they reunited in D.C., they greeted each other with a hug, Lister said.

Seven years ago, Lister– a pastor’s wife–started a ministry called God Our Help Ministries in Lusaka, Zambia. Her program trains volunteers from the community of about 100,000 who visit people living with HIV or AIDS in their homes, and cares for them and their families. Lister described a typical visit: cooking a meal for the patient while bathing and changing them; talking to their kids to see how they are doing, encouraging them to go to school; giving the patient medicine; reading the Bible to them. And they don’t just visit one patient a day. They often visit up to 10 people in one day!

One of the connections between Lister and World Vision is that her ministry uses Caregiver Kits that are put together by World Vision donors. Many churches (and other groups) donate money that goes toward buying supplies (cotton balls, bandages, petroleum jelly, gloves, flashlights–or “torches” as Lister calls them) to put into plastic cases that the caregivers take around on their home visits. With patients who are seriously ill, the kit can last 5-6 weeks. With patients who aren’t as sick, one kit can last up to 3 months. Each kit also includes a handwritten note from the person from the church or group that assembled the kit. Lister said she always reads the note to the patient, and the patient is always so grateful that someone is thinking of them. Prior to having the Caregiver Kits, the caregivers had to improvise, such as tying plastic bags onto their hands in place of gloves.

There are thousands of home-based caregivers like Lister in Zambia, and Lister’s own ministry has about 65. They are trained to care for and love people who are sick–many of them dying. Many of the caregivers get around by bike, and are helping people the entire day. The cool thing is that once patients are taking antiretroviral medicine, they often get their strength back and can work a little. Many of them even are so touched by the care they’ve received that they ask to become trained to be a volunteer caregiver, too. They are in an awesome position to encourage people to get tested for HIV and to take medicine. Fortunately, the stigma surrounding AIDS isn’t as strong as it was before, thanks to more and more people being educated about the disease.

So why do they do it? Lister said as Christians, we are called to help the widows and children, and they take that call literally. Christ says that when we are feeding the hungry and helping the sick, we are in a sense helping Him. Lister said that those verses motivate her to do this selfless, tiring work each day. On top of that, the people they are helping are in their community, which makes them family. How many of us could say that people in our community are family? Would I volunteer to wipe up my neighbor’s wounds, cook them meals, and bathe them each night? Sadly, I don’t think I would. I wouldn’t consider them family simply because I live next door to them.

When the caregivers cook food for their patients, the meals are made with their own ingredients, bought with their own money. But since these caregivers are volunteering all day, they have very little money–mostly from side jobs that they manage to keep to make a little income. To us, it’s a huge sacrifice to help other people when you’re barely scraping by. To Lister, she shrugs and says, “You only need very little to be able to give.” Later on, she adds, “We are happy to give, because God always provides the next day.”

That just blew me away. How many times have we said that when we have more money, a bigger house, a better job, a bigger car, THEN we will help other people? Then we can tithe more, donate more to charity, take in people who need a room, give people rides? But I highly doubt we will ever feel like we have “enough.” So to hear this woman say that you only need very little to be able to give was such an encouragement.

In addition to being such a genuine, humble woman with an amazing heart, she was just so gosh darn cute. She said that when she arrived in the States, she spoke with her kids back in Lusaka who asked her, “Mommy, what is it like there?” Lister got this look on her face that made her look so excited and child-like as she said, “I told them, ‘It’s just like in the movies!!’”

I wish you all could have seen her and heard her story. I was just in awe of this woman. Oftentimes, we’re inspired and impressed by people who volunteer their time to help others. But these caregivers are full-time volunteers–and the work they do is tough and draining, both physically and emotionally. They are true heroes in my book.

Click here to read more about why Lister was visiting the States. Here is more about the Caregiver Kits, plus a photo of Lister.