Imagine a life where even before you were born, your parents didn’t want you. Because they knew you were a girl, they debated aborting you in hopes that next time they would be blessed with a son. In India, it’s illegal to get an ultrasound to check the gender of your baby because of this very reason. In fact, 50,000 baby girls are aborted every month in Asia.
Okay, so you were born. But since you are a girl, you run the risk of being murdered by your family. One story, among many, tells of a family who had twins, a boy and a girl. They rejoiced over the birth of their baby boy, but threw the baby girl off the roof of their building. How terrible is that?!
Suppose your family had mercy on you, and you were spared this horrific murder. You are still at the bottom of the food chain in the family…literally. You will be last to be fed – if there’s enough food, you aren’t really worthy of an education, you’re so malnurished that you might get sick, but since your family is poor, there isn’t enough money to spare for you to see a doctor. One of GFA’s medical teams came across a couple who brought a dying baby to them. The situation was so terrible that the staff immediately said for them to rush to the nearest hospital to get the baby treatment, even providing them the funds to get to the hospital. The couple didn’t move, and the staff asked why they weren’t rushing off to save their child’s life. They replied, that since it’s a girl, it’s not worth the trouble. That poor baby is probably dead by now…
Say you make it through childhood and you are a thriving young lady, despite all that is against you. Your parents have picked out a husband for you, and you are nearing your wedding day. You don’t even know the guy, but to bring honor to your family and obey your father, you must go through with the marriage. Once married your husband becomes abusive, and your family couldn’t give a very good dowry becuase they are poor. Your husband gets angry and it’s quite possible that you might be doused with kerosene and burned to death in your own kitchen. This happens to 7,000 women a year in India alone.
Let’s say your lucky though and your husband marries you and loves you. This is the first time you have experienced love in your life and are so happy to have the tides turned. You live with him for a few years time, and he is a stick gatherer, everyday going into the jungle to gather sticks for firewood to sell in town. Life goes on, but one day your husband doesn’t come back. A few days later, you discover that he was killed in the jungle by a tiger, leaving you and your children to fend for yourselves. The grief is unbearable! Not only did you lose the man you loved so dearly, but you are blamed for his death and shunned by society, your friends forsake you, and your family pretends you don’t exist.
How are you going to survive now? How will you provide for your children? What is there to do? You could go to the city and become a prostitute, you could beg alongside your children, you could try to find a job – but who would want to hire a widow?
This is the life for many women in Asia. But Gospel for Asia is changing this, one woman at a time through their Women Ministry. This ministry will teach women life skills such as reading, writing, and basic math. They will experience the love of Jesus through the Women Missionaries who can meet with and understand their pain. They might even receive a gift such as a sewing machine or a water buffalo, so they can provide for their families!
You can have a part in sharing love with these desperate women at the bottom of society. It doesn’t take much to share Jesus with a woman all the way around the globe. If you’re unable to give financially, that’s perfectly fine! Prayer is a very powerful tool, and those women need it. Pray for wisdom with the women missionaries, pray for the women who haven’t yet heard of Jesus who can wash their pain away, pray for the unborn babies – for their protection, most of all – Pray for the Kingdom of God to be proclaimed to the uttermost parts of the world.
Here’s a cool music video that I worked on that explains a bit more:
Thanks for listening,
Alley
