Last updated on: September 17, 2022 at 6:06 am By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) – Discussing the life of Kuvira who, like many widows in asia, are exposed to the dangers of isolation, discrimination, hopelessness, and the women missionaries who take it upon themselves to bless the lives of countless women they encounter.
June 23 is an inauspicious date for many in America. But at Gospel for Asia (GFA), it is much more than just another day. June 23 is International Widows’ Day and is celebrated annually to help spread awareness of the plight of widows across the world. Many widows, especially those in Asia, face abuse, neglect or poverty.
In many parts of Asia, social stigma and prejudice surrounds women bereft of their husbands. If their husband died of illness or an accident, the widow might be blamed. Any possessions they had may be taken from them—they may even be forced out of their home by their late husband’s relatives. In Kuvira’s case, it was only the love and courage of a dear friend that kept a roof over her head.
The Loss of a Loved One
Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers like Latha (not pictured) provide comfort and hope to women like Kuvira during their darkest hour. Many widows in Asia today are experiencing the same love Kuvira now holds in her heart.
Kuvira’s husband, Ratan, was at death’s door. Fearing for her wellbeing, Ratan gave Kuvira instructions on what to do after his passing.
“Go to the church,” he said, “because no one else will take care of you and our children.”
Near Ratan and Kuvira’s home a local church gathered for worship. One of the Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers who served there was a woman named Latha, who also happened to be Ratan and Kuvira’s neighbor. During Ratan’s kidney failure, Latha ministered to him and Kuvira, offering what comfort and encouragement she could provide.
After a month of constant ministering, Ratan’s time had come. Fearing Kuvira would suffer the same struggles as millions of other widows in asia, Ratan asked that she remain close to the church.
“Apart from Sister Latha, I cannot trust other individuals,” the ailing man said.
Before he passed away, Ratan accepted God’s love into his heart. Finally, Ratan died from his kidney failure, leaving Kuvira and their two children alone.
Never Alone
But Kuvira was not quite alone. She began attending church services and building stronger relationships with local believers. Latha stayed close to her grieving friend, continuing to encourage Kuvira and her children through their struggles. Latha was specially equipped to provide Kuvira with much-needed counsel and guidance because she also was a widow.
Much of what Kuvira was experiencing now, Latha had gone through. The loss of a husband, the uncertainty and worry for the future—those things were very familiar to her. Her comfort and advice touched Kuvira’s heart, and the young widow came to understand the love of God.
In the Face of Adversity
Ratan’s final worries for his wife came to pass, when his relatives attempted to force Kuvira and her children out from their home. But Latha would have none of it.
“Where were you when her husband was sick?” she boldly asked. “Why didn’t you take care of him in his time of trouble?”
Backing down, Ratan’s relatives never bothered the widow again.
Now, Kuvira happily continues to attend services, rejoicing in the fellowship of the church and the love of God. She is particularly thankful for Latha and her abundant love and compassion.
“If [Sister Latha] had not come to our house, we would not have seen this day today,” Kuvira said.
Without Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers like Sister Latha, Kuvira would have been like many other widows in Asia—suffering with no love or hope in their lives. But by the grace of God, there are thousands of workers like Latha who passionately want to help these women.
In places where traditional women missionaries face persecution, Sisters of Compassion are welcomed as trustworthy counselors and friends of the community.
Widowhood.
No one can imagine the pain that follows the death of a spouse until they have experienced it. Suffice it to say that the only way to describe that pain is that it is, indeed, unimaginable. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, the indescribable pain of the loss lingers long after you expect it to.
Two Scripture verses have been a comfort to me as I have experienced the pain of which we speak. One is from the Old Testament; the other from the New.
“A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.”
(Psalm 68:5)
“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
(James 1:27)
A Biblical perspective on widowhood is essential for Christians everywhere. As followers of Jesus, we have a sacred responsibility to care for and comfort widows. This is especially true in some Asian nations where widows are treated as outcasts.
In some of the poorest regions of these countries, widows are a burden. In times past, they would be burnt alive while their husbands’ bodies were cremated. Today, many widows are made to leave their families and forced to beg in the streets. Some are sent away by their husbands’ families who want to prevent them from inheriting money or property. Despite legislation aimed at protecting widows, regressive customs are difficult to overcome.
The treatment of women in general and widows, in particular, is nothing new. Even during his earthly ministry, Jesus condemned the Jewish scribes and Pharisees for devouring widow’s houses (see Mark 12:38-40). Mistreatment of widows is common, especially in developing countries and in places where Christian compassion is nonexistent.
One source observed that widows in India have a “pronoun problem.” The estimated 40 million women widows in the country go from being called “she” to “it” when they lose their husbands.
Mohini Giri, a former Nobel Peace Prize nominee, says that “Widowhood is a state of social death,” and women are forced to live with “many restrictions which affect them both physically and psychologically.” In many cases, they are forbidden from working or associating with mainstream society.
Widows are trapped in an emotional prison because of the bad luck they are thought to bring. According to Hopegivers, a faith-based non-profit organization, widows are “easily set aside, much like you would toss out an old chair. But that is not God’s way. All lives have value, regardless of age, gender, or circumstances. He has a plan and purpose for every person – and that plan and purpose exist until death.”
These are some of the reasons why one of the major ministries of GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion is caring for widows throughout widowhood.
With hearts that ache for hurting widows, Sisters of Compassion honor them by sharing the love of Jesus, providing clothing and other basic essentials, teaching them income-generating skills, and providing them with the tools necessary to use those skills.
Sisters of Compassion are specially trained women missionaries with a deep burden of showing Christ’s love by physically serving the needy, underprivileged and poor. After completing Bible college—and sometimes several years of ministry—they go through an advanced six-month course of study, learning about leprosy care, family counseling, hygiene education and other practical ministries.
Before these women missionaries re-enter the field, they don a uniform of humility. Made of handspun fabric, the traditional saris they wear mirror the clothing once worn by the lowliest servants in Asia, immediately showing everyone that the women missionaries have come without any agenda but to love others. Although it looks foreign to Western eyes, their uniform has a special and easily recognized meaning in Asia. Over the years, women from many Christian denominations have taken on this uniform to demonstrate a desire to serve the needy without thought of personal gain.
In places where traditional women missionaries face persecution, Sisters of Compassion are welcomed as trustworthy counselors and friends of the community. With this acceptance, they freely share Christ’s love where they otherwise couldn’t even set foot.
Sisters of Compassion are eagerly welcomed as caregivers, counselors, teachers and friends. Without the uniform, they would be greeted with speculation.
The Sisters of Compassion are a select group of women missionaries who have chosen to participate in extra training and to spend three years working among the widows, orphans, lepers and others living in abject poverty and in need of the love and care that others are withholding from them simply by ignoring them.
Demonstrating compassion is, in and of itself, the calling of every believer. However, it is the miracles the Lord does through our compassion that best demonstrate His care.
Perhaps the best way to understand the plight of widows in Asia and the impact of Sisters of Compassion is to watch this short excerpt from the acclaimed movie, “Veil of Tears.” Our prayer is that it will touch and break your heart and stir you to pray for this special ministry supported by GFA. Please take just five minutes to let the Lord open your eyes to the need and to the sacrificial and caring work of the Sisters of Compassion among the widows.
For more on the plight of widows and widowhood, go here.
WILLS POINT, TX — Mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) is challenging people to “pray tenaciously for the world’s vulnerable women like never before” — including the more than 250,000 women and girls who’ve disappeared without a trace in the U.S.
WOMEN FACE DANGER FROM ‘WOMB TO WIDOWHOOD’: To mark International Women’s Day in March, GFA World (http://gospelforasia.net/) is challenging people to “tenaciously pray for the world’s vulnerable women like never before” — including the more than 250,000 women and girls who’ve disappeared without a trace in the U.S.
As the annual International Women’s Day takes place in March, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported 257,000 women and girls were missing across America in 2021, the most recent year for statistics.
For most of us, it’s a distant thought, but across America and around the world today, millions of parents, spouses and children live with the daily, brutal reality of not even knowing if their daughter, wife or mother is still alive.
Danger From ‘Womb to Widowhood’
Globally, it’s estimated up to 100 million women and girls are “missing and unaccounted for” — the victims of gender-selective abortions, female infanticide, slavery, human trafficking, and abandonment.
“Around the world, women’s lives are threatened from the womb to widowhood, and millions of precious girls won’t survive to become mothers,” Yohannan said. “It’s vital we combat the culture of violence against women and girls — and shower this broken world with God’s love.”
The mission pioneer — who inspired a wave of national missionaries across Asia — said: “The hurdles faced by women around the world seem insurmountable. But if the global Body of Christ is committed in prayer and action, we can see change in our lifetime.”
World Day of Prayer
The annual World Day of Prayer in March mobilizes Christians worldwide to pray for women in mission work — and GFA World’s Texas-based workers will participate with special prayers for the courageous women missionaries serving women and girls in crisis around the world.
Across Asia, GFA World-supports tens of thousands of girls at risk of abandonment, exploitation, trafficking, and the threat of vanishing without a trace. Projects also provide vocational training and sewing machines for thousands of women at risk.
The ministry’s Sisters of Compassion — specially trained teams of women missionaries — have a burden for serving vulnerable women, including widows and those with leprosy who are shunned by their wider community. By cleaning and bandaging their open wounds, the Sisters show women scarred by leprosy “they’re loved and have priceless value in God’s eyes.”
“Our Christian compassion should drive us to prayer and action,” said Yohannan, whose organization has “shown God’s love” to the extreme poor in Asia for more than four decades.
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World and affiliates like Gospel for Asia Canada) founded by KP Yohannan, issued this final part of the GFA Special Report update on the desperate plight of widows in both affluent and developing nations.
Widows like these from across South Asia need assistance to alleviate their difficult circumstances.
Persistent Superstitions
Many might think such marginalization only happened in centuries past, but these recent stories illustrate that ancient cultural customs, superstitions and prejudices persist. According to the Global Fund for Widows, not only do many nations prevent widows from inheriting her rightful assets when her husband dies, some allow women to become part of his estate.
This widow is living with her son, and his family in West Bengal India. Her husband was killed by a tiger while working. Some widows even witness those attacks and experience post-traumatic stress disorder while grieving.
Such realities emphasize the need for International Widows Day, 15 years after the Loomba Foundation established the first observance to draw attention to widows’ experiences and galvanize more public support.
They are “stigmatized, shunned and shamed” the UN says. “And many of these abuses go unnoticed, even normalized. International Widows Day is an opportunity for action towards achieving full rights and recognition for widows.”
Then there are the problems caused by war and other conflicts. To examine this, the UNHCR—the UN Refugee Agency—dispatched a reporter to Mosul, Iraq, near the end of the government’s three-year-long, on-and-off battle to overcome militant extremists.
The agency examined the impact of fighting, which continued long after the battle ended. Among the victims were Asmaa Mahmood, captured along with her husband and their two young daughters. Two weeks after their capture and separation, Asmaa learned her husband had been killed. As would be expected, she suffered from shock, psychological trauma and grief.
Policy reforms that can help address disadvantages to widows, the World Bank says, are regarding property ownership, inheritance rights, registration of customary marriages and widows’ pensions.
More than 900,000 fled after the final military operation began to retake the city in late 2016. At one camp operated by the UNHCR and its partners, female-headed households made up more than a quarter of the total: 1,250 out of 4,463 families.
Widows like 25-year-old Asmaa faced desperate straits. She hadn’t even told her children of their father’s death after arriving at the refugee camp, evading the truth by telling her girls he had been working and would soon return.
“I am so exhausted worrying about the future of my children,” she said. “Now I have no one to rely on. All I want is to provide a good living for my two daughters. I don’t worry about myself. I just don’t want my daughters to feel any different from other girls who have a father.”
These widows living in the slums of Mumbai gather together for support, prayer and practical assistance from the local pastors and Sisters of Compassion serving with Gospel for Asia (GFA World).
Given such earth-shaking situations, the 2019 release of a widow-linked television series may seem like a trifling thing. Yet, despite the six-hour series being primarily an adventure tale, the airing of The Widow on Amazon Prime shows a symbolic consciousness of the situation.
Co-produced by Amazon and Britain’s ITV, the eight episodes drew a critical review in the influential The Atlantic magazine. Yet reviewer Sophie Gilbert noted star Kate Beckinsale gave the main character a “confidence in her action scenes that’s intermittently thrilling.” In real life, widows’ courage is indeed something to behold. While a TV mini-series highlights their plight before viewers, widows require real substantive action by governments, NGOs and individuals like you and me to help them survive financially and emotionally, even as they suffer through their grief.
Quiet Help
While International Widows Day places a spotlight on the problems facing widows, much of the work being done to alleviate their suffering and deprivation occurs in quiet ways.
In 2018, Gospel for Asia (GFA) had 32 teams working across South Asia, where 22 percent of the global population of widows lives, to address widows’ specific needs.
In Asian cultures, many widows are seen as a curse and may be shunned by society, including close relatives.
The following facts show a sampling of what desperate widows face in this part of the world:
Widows are often forcibly evicted from their homes and extended families by the husband’s family after his death.
Widows are often erroneously accused of having caused the deaths of their husbands.
Since widows’ education level is typically much lower, 19 million of them live in extreme poverty, earning less than $2 a day.
Remarriage by widows in this part of the world is low, so street begging or prostitution often becomes a way of life for younger widows.
Many widows are left to care for their children with little help from relatives.
And sometimes children are forcibly removed from their moms.
When not removed, children from low-income families often have to enter the labor force to support their widowed mothers and other siblings.
Consider these practical examples of the impact of widowhood on real people in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka and other parts of South Asia—home to 57.8 million widows. There’s Riya, who at 57 became shrouded by the shame of widowhood when her husband died from an unknown illness. Overwhelmed by sorrow and guilt, for three years she struggled to leave her bed.
Then there is Prema, the mother of two young children who suddenly found herself widowed and without a source of income.
And Amey, who struggled to overcome nearly insurmountable odds when riots touched her small village and those responsible tried to extort a fortune from her husband, a dry-fish vendor. When he refused, they killed him in his home. That left Amey with four children to raise by herself, forcing her to sell their belongings in a desperate struggle for survival. When she ran out of money and revived her husband’s business, her success sparked jealousy from other merchants, who harassed her and even tried to kill her.
I had to go through lots of problems after my husband passed away,” Amey (above) recalled. “To protect my children, I had to sell my belongings … Our economic situation went from bad to worse … I was mentally drained …”
In each case, help from Gospel for Asia (GFA) workers brought light and hope and shared how much God loved and cared for them. Thanks to a Gospel for Asia (GFA) initiative teaching women to develop skills and become self-supporting, Prema learned how to sew and received a sewing machine to help her generate income. After a neighbor invited Amey to attend church, she and her daughters found the inspiration and support to start a new spice business.
“I have no words to thank my Lord Jesus for the miracles that He has done in my life,”Amey says. “I am so thankful He has saved me and also protected me in order to be the strength for my daughters. Now we are living with God’s grace, and our lives have been blessed immensely.”
Besides income-generating gifts, Gospel for Asia (GFA) supplies widows with clothing and other essentials, comfort, encouragement and the vital link of prayer support. Gospel for Asia (GFA) also maintains a website, www.mygfa.org, that equips those who want to conduct grassroots fundraising campaigns. Those funds help the poor, including widows, and equip missionaries in the most difficult areas of Asia—where millions have yet to experience His love.
“The Bible says that true religion is to care for orphans and widows in their distress,” Dr. Yohannan says. “The challenge facing the Church around the world today is to not just read the Bible, but follow its teachings.”
These teachings apply the same today as they did thousands of years ago.
If you would like to do something now to help widows around the world, please consider one, or more, of the following ideas:
Raise awareness of the plight of widows by sharing this article with your friends and family via social media, email or a link on your blog.
Interview a GFA World representative on this topic for your podcast or radio show. To facilitate that idea, email [email protected].
Make a donation to help widows in Asia through a gift to GFA World.
Identify a widow that you know personally and invite her to lunch or dinner, with the goal to understand her and her needs better. Act on what you learn to make a difference for that one person.
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA’s latest yearly report, this included more than 70,000 sponsored children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World and affiliates like Gospel for Asia Canada) founded by KP Yohannan, issued this Special Report update on the desperate plight of widows in both affluent and developing nations.
After two decades of fighting to eliminate the U.S. military’s “widow’s tax,” Cathy Milford finally succeeded, but she won’t benefit from that change for another three years. That’s how long it will take until she receives full survivor benefits instead of only partial. Though the U.S. Congress passed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the bill only phases out the tax by 2023.
Cathy Milford successfully fought to eliminate the U.S. military’s “widow’s tax”. Photo by Doug Jones, Medium
“This is just an awful thing to do,” Milford said at a Capitol Hill rally in May 2019, recalling her 25 years of pushing for repeal; her late husband, Harry, suffered a fatal aneurysm soon after retiring from the U.S. Coast Guard. “Every time I talk about this, I have to dig my husband up and bury him all over again.”
The dispute revolved around awards given to survivors of veterans who die of service-related causes (the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation program, or DIC) and a separate, life insurance-type program known as the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP). While individuals who qualified for either have received full payouts, those getting income from both saw SBP funds reduced by one dollar for every DIC dollar since 1972. The difference of up to $1,000 a month affects 67,000 surviving spouses.
“This problem goes back decades, but this year we finally solved it once and for all,” said Maine senator Susan Collins after the bill’s passage in December 2019.
That securing additional benefits for military survivors took such a protracted fight symbolizes the plight of widows worldwide. Whether husband-less females in Nigeria who have been branded “witches,” women in Asia blamed for their husbands’ deaths and other calamities, or those in South Africa who can lose inheritance rights when in-laws object, the world’s 258 million widows often face an uphill battle.
Women who lose a spouse can face difficult and complicated problems even in affluent societies, as the U.S. military widows’ battle illustrates.
Nearly one in 10 lives in extreme poverty, says the United Nations (UN). While widows have specific needs, their voices are often missing from policies affecting them.
“In some Asian cultures, when a woman’s husband dies, she is often stripped of her dignity, her worth and her human rights,” says K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia (GFA). “Many of these widows are deprived of their home, their property and their possessions—leaving them destitute. Lacking the ability to earn a living, and with no access to savings or credit, millions of widows all across Asia fight every day for their survival, all the while shunned and shamed.”
As the military widows’ battle illustrates, women can face problems even in affluent societies. Another example of the slighting of American widows surfaced in a 2018 report. The Social Security’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reviewed cases of dual eligibility, where a widow can receive her benefit or a deceased spouse’s. The OIG found that 82 percent of the time the Social Security Administration failed to follow its own procedures for spelling out maximum benefit options.
According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Loomba Foundation’s most recent World Widows Report:
The United States ranks third in the world for the most widowed women with more than 14 million.
Forty-nine percent earn less than $25,000 a year, meaning “widowhood is often a ticket to poverty.”
In practical numbers:
More than 740,000 widows are unable to provide food, shelter and basic necessities for themselves.
Secondary losses often crush widows, who subsequently may lose homes, jobs, insurance or credit.
In giving 100 stress points for losing a spouse, the Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Scale ranks loss of a spouse at No. 1. Other losses can push a widow’s stress level near 300 points, meaning an 80 percent chance of serious illness.
Three Sisters of Compassion from Gospel for Asia (GFA World) were photographed for this disheartened widow who had recently lost her husband to a tiger attack — a common occurrence in the Sundarbans of West Bengal, India.
Worldwide Problem
Problems for widows exist worldwide. According to the World Bank, it is especially bad in much of Africa, where marriage is the sole basis for women’s access to social and economic rights, which often vanish after widowhood or divorce. Policy reforms that can help address disadvantages to widows, the World Bank says, are regarding property ownership, inheritance rights, registration of customary marriages and widows’ pensions.
Widows: Invisible & Excluded – Asli Demirguc-Kunt Photo by Worldbank.org
“In the face of divorce or widowhood, women often struggle with serious economic hardship,” said Asli Demirguc-Kunt, director of research at the World Bank.
For example, women frequently inherit nothing when a marriage ends. They can be shut out of labor markets, own fewer productive assets and bear more responsibility for caring for children or the elderly.
“Just as widows are often hidden from view in their own communities, the absence of data limits broader public awareness of the issue,” said the story “Invisible and Excluded.” “Quantifying the prevalence of widowhood and divorce requires information on both current widows and divorcees as well as the marital history of currently married women, and this is only available in 20 countries.”
Nearly one in 10 lives in extreme poverty, says the United Nations. While widows have specific needs, their voices are often missing from policies affecting them.
Such disregard can cut deeply, which one 49-year-old Nigerian discovered after her husband committed suicide in 2014. Four months after his death, Christiana came across his bones after searching through forests for three days. Afterward, his relatives summoned her and questioned her intensely, seeking evidence her husband did not die because of her witchcraft.
“They said that I killed my husband,” she told freelance reporter Orji Sunday, “and declared me a witch.” Sunday went on to chronicle how numerous Nigerian widows face similar challenges rooted in cultural practices. Many traditions force women to take an oath to prove her innocence when her husband dies.
“Others confine the widow in place for [a] specific mourning period and others shave her hair, yet others insist that the widow drink the water with which her late husband was washed. Some are given to the brother of the deceased,” Sunday wrote. “Legislation protecting widows is lacking in many states in the country, and in regions where the laws exist implementation is far from convincing.”
The earthquakes in Nepal left this woman as a widow with young kids. Like many others in her nation, she doesn’t know how to start her life again.
Similar stories appear well beyond Africa. In Nepal, a middle-aged woman was blamed for her husband’s death in 2014. Five years later, people in her village accused her of causing the death of a buffalo and beat and tortured her.
“This is a representative example of how a widow is mistreated and traumatized in the country, how widows are looked down upon and treated as inauspicious,” wrote Prakriti Sapkota in a 2019 report. “Widows are among the most vulnerable categories of people in the country. The social stigma attached to them deprive them of their basic human rights and freedom of speech. They are [the] prey of physical and sexual assaults and harassments, accused of various sexual misdeeds and are socially marginalized.”
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA’s latest yearly report, this included more than 70,000 sponsored children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
Last updated on: November 10, 2021 at 6:30 pm By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – GFA World (Gospel for Asia) founded by K.P. Yohannan, which inspired numerous charities like GFA World Canada, to assist the poor and deprived worldwide, issued this 1st part of a Special Report update on the extraordinary pressures and hardships of widows intensified by the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Gospel for Asia (GFA) Sisters of Compassion visit Asian widows regularly to talk, help and provide hope and prayer.While visiting a famished, poor widow living among huts in this slum area in Telangana, Gospel for Asia (GFA) provided a food packet consisting of mixed vegetables, rice and oil to sustain her, and ten others, during the pandemic. She said: “From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for providing these food supplies.”
As I conveyed in a previous Special Report, the plight of widows, whether in affluent or developing nations, can be a desperate struggle. In this update, I share how the coronavirus has compounded their hardships even further.
For women worldwide who have lost husbands during the COVID-19 pandemic, grief and pain are an overwhelming experience. But for many of these women, their sorrow has been multiplied to an unbearable level due to isolation, expulsion from family, loss of property rights, and other extraordinary pressures that are often overlooked.
In America, while pandemic fears started to ease as vaccine distribution ramped up in the spring of 2021, for widows who lost spouses during the past two years, the pain is only beginning. Many young widows forged support bonds through Facebook, Zoom or other electronic means even as lockdowns and social distancing practices prevented them from gathering in person. A recent NBC News investigation discovered the following:
Among the newly grieving spouses is Pamela Addison of Waldwick, New Jersey. She became a widow in April 2020 at age 36 after her husband was exposed to the virus while conducting swallow evaluations on speech pathology patients.
“All my friends had their husbands, they were healthy,” Addison told a reporter from NBC News. “I knew only me. I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, nobody else is going to understand what I’m going through—and that was a whole other part of my grief.”1
The Modern Widows Club provides various services for widows, including one that helps locate support groups in person or online for ongoing empathy. Photo by Modern Widows Club
After receiving inspiration from a sympathy card, Addison launched the Facebook support group Young Widows and Widowers of Covid-19. In its first two months, it surpassed 80 members from the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
Another member, Kristina Scorpo, 33, of Paterson, New Jersey, commented: “We didn’t plan to be widowed at 36 or 33. We didn’t plan to raise our kids without our partners that we saw our lives with and we saw a future with. It was like [people in the group] knew exactly what the other was going to say, because we had been through all the same things, and it’s a really great thing that life brought us together.”2
Some who have lost spouses find common identity in their ethnic background, like those who are part of Black Women Widows Empowered. It was launched by Sabra Robinson of Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2015 after she lost her husband to cancer in 2012. Last year, the more than 700 members included at least 20 who had lost spouses to COVID-19.
“I feel for all these ladies, black or white,” Robinson said. “There’s so many COVID widows now, and they don’t have to be COVID widows.”3
Nepal: Having lost her husband, Esther’s life is difficult, although she’s grateful to still have her land. She sows corn manually by hand to grow a life-sustaining crop for her family during the rainfed conditions from April to August.
Yet there is strength in their affinity, says member Erika Taylor-Ruffin of Apple Valley, California, who credits the group with “saving her life.”
“When you’re an African American widow, it’s like you still have to be strong,” Taylor-Ruffin said. “We can’t show weakness. This group allows us to be vulnerable and to show our pain without being judged. [There] is something about being around women who understand your pain.”4
While the grief and sorrow of COVID-19 widows is profound in developed countries like the United States, in developing countries of the world, the painful losses widows experience are amplified to an entirely different level.
“COVID-19 is a widow-maker,” Karol Boudreaux, chief program officer at the land rights charity Landesa, said in a webinar organized by the Land Portal online platform. “[The virus] exacerbates an already unequal situation for men and women.”
Boudreaux referred to a Tanzanian widow who was unable to stop the illegal sale of her property in another city due to limited land rights and COVID-19 travel restrictions as an example of this inequity.
It’s been a decade since the United Nations organized International Widows Day, which is observed annually on June 23. The UN says there are 258 million widows worldwide, with a ratio of nearly 1 in 10 living in extreme poverty.
On last year’s International Widows Day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said when countries build back from COVID-19, they must also work to dismantle laws that discriminate against women. He said the isolation and economic hardships brought on by the pandemic can further compromise widows’ ability to support themselves and their families and cut them off from social connections during their greatest time of grief.
“The death of a partner at any time can leave many women without rights to inheritance of property,” Guterres said. “In times of a pandemic, these losses are often multiplied for widows and accompanied by stigma and discrimination.”5
The UN also says that the actual number of widows is likely to grow much higher and expand further as the coronavirus and its related impact on health continues: “The pandemic has just worsened the situation during the past several months with a devastating human loss, and one that is likely leaving tens of thousands of women newly widowed at just the time they are cut off from their usual socio-economic and family supports.”6
Uttar Pradesh, India: When a husband is lost to COVID-19, for example, the remaining widow will often need to mobilize her remaining family to survive. This family, fortunate to have land, is planting an entire field completely by hand.
Widows Rights Routinely Violated During Pandemic
An article reported from Johannesburg, South Africa, on the same Tanzanian story referenced by Karol Boudreaux—written by Kim Harrisberg for the Thomson Reuters Foundation—said that women often only earn legal or socially recognized rights to land and property through a husband or father. These rights are regularly violated during times of disaster, whether that be a war, the HIV/AIDS crisis or the coronavirus.
She quoted Patricia Chaves, head of the women’s rights charity Espaco Feminista, as saying that in Brazil when a man dies, women are approached at the funeral about selling their land.
Kenya: Because polygamy is practiced widely, when a husband dies from COVID-19, he often leaves behind several wives with multiple children. These vulnerable women are frequently preyed upon. The Widow’s Might program of Kenya Hope supports these women by providing them with food assistance each month, giving them five goats in the first year to start their own self sustaining herd, and by training them with marketable skills, all in God’s love. Photo by Kenya Hope, Widow’s Might Program
Chaves said that poor women have been particularly vulnerable during the pandemic because they are forced to put themselves at risk to feed their families while isolating in poor housing conditions.
In Kenya, there are reports that widows were forced out of their homes by their in-laws during quarantine because they were seen as an extra burden and not really part of the family, said Victoria Stanley, a World Bank land specialist.
“Widows depend on their (deceased) husbands for their property rights. There may be pressure from families to return properties or they may be forced into marriages with other family members. This could be devastating if we aren’t paying attention,” said Stanley, who called for a moratorium on evictions to protect women’s rights during the pandemic.7
Of course, when it comes to suffering, widows have experienced this long before last year’s lockdowns.
Afghanistan: A widow begs for food on a busy road in Kabul; the two loaves of bread she has are the entire dinner for her family of eight. According to Sharia teachings, widows only get an eighth of the inheritance from their spouse’s death if the husband has children (if not, then one quarter). The rest is distributed amongst other family members. Photo by Lacuna Magazine, Widowhood in Afghanistan
One example is in Afghanistan, home to “the hill of widows.” The term refers to women who eke out independence in a society that shuns them and condemns them as immoral. The first residents settled on a stony slope outside Kabul in the 1990s, hoping to escape the stigma attached to women who have lost their spouse.
The war-torn nation was home to approximately 2.5 million widows in 2017. Often uneducated and shuttered away at home, the women have few options when their husband dies. According to a report by a French news agency, “At best, they receive $150 a year from the government if their husband was killed in fighting. They survive by doing household chores, a little sewing, or by sending their children to beg in the bazaar.
“Women are perceived as being owned by their father before becoming their husband’s property. Widows are often rejected as immoral or regarded as burdens: they suffer violence, expulsion, ostracism and sometimes forced remarriage, often with a brother-in-law, as reported by the UN Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in a rare study published in 2014.”8
Nigeria: Deborah’s husband was shot and killed in raids by Muslim extremists. After her husband’s death, her in-laws wanted her to leave her home so they could profit from it. They consistently abused her and pressured her to leave. Soon, she gave in, left her home and rented a house. She was hopeless, alone, and filled with grief. And ready to give up on life, until she received help to survive from an Open Doors trauma center. Photo by Open Doors USA
Similar difficulties face widows in Nigeria. In one state in the geopolitical region of South East Nigeria, legislators enacted laws in 2001 prohibiting widows from being compelled to do such things as shave their heads, be locked in the room with their husband’s corpse, or be compelled to remarry a relative of her late husband’s. Yet nearly two decades later, some of these practices were being kept alive through sociocultural norms, said an early 2020 report by a group of health researchers.
“There are often frictions between cultural practices and state policies/laws, as well as human rights, which obstruct policy implementation,” they wrote. “The lack of resources in low-resource regions adds to the difficulty in enforcing laws and policies, especially in rural areas, giving room for abhorrent cultural practices to thrive. These conditions prolong and intensify the traumatic experiences of widows.”9
If this special report has touched your heart and you would like to do something today about the plight of widows around the world, please share this article with your friends and consider making a generous gift to GFA World to help widows in South Asia and other locations.
GFA World (Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Asia and Africa, and sharing the love of God. In GFA World’s latest yearly report, this included thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and teaching providing hope and encouragement available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
Last updated on: September 29, 2023 at 5:28 am By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World and affiliates like Gospel for Asia Canada) founded by KP Yohannan, issued this Special Report on the massive challenge of reducing extreme poverty worldwide, mainly through providing education, transmitting values.
Reducing extreme poverty is a massive challenge. Groups around the globe approach the issue in a variety of ways, the most common of which is by providing education. A strong, multifaceted link bonds poverty and lack of education, so experts around the globe are attempting to bring education into poverty-stricken areas.
But even with academic lessons and increased school attendance among low-income families, children will be short-changed if in the end they don’t gain the ultimate endowment: ideas and values that empower them to thrive.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” According to Aristotle, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
E.F. Schumacher writes in his influential economics book Small Is Beautiful, “The task of education would be, first and foremost, the transmission of ideas of value, of what to do with our lives. There is no doubt also the need to transmit know-how, but this must take second place, for it is obviously somewhat foolhardy to put great powers into the hands of people without making sure that they have a reasonable idea of what to do with them.”
“When people ask for education,” Schumacher continues, “they normally mean something more than mere training. … I think what they are really looking for is ideas that would make the world, and their own lives, intelligible to them.”
Why do ideas and values matter so much? Because they have the power to transform the world—to uproot global poverty.
Concepts like honesty, diligence, respect, compassion and valuing human life are widely acknowledged as good—yet in many communities around the world these values are not being demonstrated or taught to children. When one individual has a foundation of beneficial values like these, he or she can impact other lives, from their own family to the entire world. For the sake of simplicity, our individual will be referred to as “he,” although both males and females are able to make incredible changes to the world around them.
The staff at this Bridge of Hope Project Center in West Bengal provide their children with an ongoing education and transmit positive values with utmost care and responsibility.
Personal Impact of Ideas, Education
Schumacher defined education’s primary purpose as being the transmission of values. Positive values and ideas make a significant impact on one individual, and global change is impossible without changed individuals. The story of a young boy in Asia exemplifies the life-changing power of education plus ideas.
Where this GFA Bridge of Hope center is located, around 40-50 percent of children drop out of school after fifth or sixth grade. Thankfully, these children pictured will have a higher success rate because of the help and encouragement that Bridge of Hope is to them and their families.
Even though Bir’s family lived in poverty, the young boy still had the gift of attending school. But he floundered in the classroom. His books were filled with valuable information, and his teachers taught lessons that had the potential to change Bir’s life, but Bir lacked the discipline of listening and didn’t know how to get the knowledge from his books into his mind. The shame from his terrible grades stamped out the little boy’s motivation. Education was in his hands, but it wasn’t enough.
Then a GFA World Bridge of Hope center opened in his village. Bir and dozens of other kids in the village enrolled, eager to receive free tutoring and supplemental education.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” According to Aristotle, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
Through these foundational teachings at his Bridge of Hope center, Bir changed. He saw his potential and diligently applied himself to his studies—and to his chores at home. He learned to honor his parents, and he worked hard. By the time Bir completed 10th grade, he stood at the top of his class. Armed with impressive grades and strong values undergirding his choices and habits, Bir could pursue a college education with every reason to hope for continued success in life.
Education changed Bir’s life, but it wasn’t through academics alone. The right values enabled Bir—and thousands of other children like him—to succeed in schooling and find a better way of life. For the rest of their lives, Bridge of Hope children like Bir will know they, along with every other person, have worth and purpose. They will have the know-how to pursue their goals and to help those around them. They will become promising citizens any nation would be proud to claim as their own.
At the center, Bridge of Hope teachers have fun with the children to compliment their studies. In addition, BOH staff periodically visit their children and their families at their homes, which helps strengthen their relationship further. The children enjoy talking and interacting with BOH teachers whenever they visit, and the values of love and kindness get transmitted beyond their school life into their home life as well.
Ideas’ Impact on the Family
Thanks to quality, value-centered education, children become well-rounded, capable, confident adults. They know how to implement knowledge to better themselves and others, and they have a sense of participation in the world around them.
How will they impact their future families?
Parents play an undeniably important role in children’s lives. According to an article on parenting skills from Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, “Many of the skills children acquire during the early years are fundamentally dependent on the quality of their interactions with their parents. For instance, parents play an important role in fostering children’s early learning (e.g., language and problem-solving abilities) and in shaping their social-emotional skills (e.g., emotion regulation, reactivity to stress and self-esteem).”
The article goes on to state how the parents’ involvement with their child heavily influences the future success of the child’s cognitive potential, social skills and behavioral functioning.
“In most studies, parental education has been identified as the single strongest correlate of children’s success…” —Anna J. Egalite Photo by @annaegalite
Anna J. Egalite, assistant professor of education at North Carolina State University, reaffirms the impact of parents’ education on a child’s success. She writes, “In most studies, parental education has been identified as the single strongest correlate of children’s success in school, the number of years they attend school, and their success later in life.”
Values are always passed along from one generation to the next—but they can be beneficial or detrimental. A parent who values the rights and dignity of others will teach their children to do likewise, even if they live in poverty and their society mistreats them because of their low status. A parent whose diligence and integrity enabled them to overcome financial and societal obstacles will encourage their child to press on in the same way. Their message to their children will be, “You can do it!” Conversely, a parent who doubts their worth and that of others, or who was discouraged from rising above “their station” will likely pass a dooming message to their children, squelching aspirations for a better life.
In this village in Meghalaya where not one person was literate, a Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor is teaching these little children how to read and write, and showing the love of God in the process.
Ideas’ Impact on Society
History provides ample examples, some inspiring and some horrifying, of how ideas and values impact society and poverty.
Assam: In many parts of Asia, when a mother is widowed, she is often shunned by her community, friends and family, leaving her and her children in a pressing state of survival, with often no hope for a better future.
Some values led to the formation of the slave trade, while other values led to its abolition. Some ideologies spurred violence, while others prompted the construction of relief camps and orphanages. The ideas propelling men like Stalin and Hitler left behind a wake of death and poverty. These examples reveal the importance of having positive guiding values.
The plight of the world’s 258 million widows, and hundreds of thousands of people with leprosy, reveals how harmful ideas actively reinforce poverty in our time.
Widows and leprosy patients in Asia typically live in positions of great need. Misfortune has made their lives very challenging, yet very few people around them consider them worthy of generosity.
Despite living where honor is a key fiber of the culture, widows of any age may be cast out of the home, abandoned to fend for themselves or easily taken advantage of. Many cultures hold the idea that a husband’s death is the fault of the wife; thus, when the husband dies, the widow “deserves” to be shunned. Over the decades, that idea has irreparably harmed the lives of countless widows and their young children, who also suffer the consequences of their mother’s rejection and subsequent poverty.
Similarly, leprosy patients are commonly expelled from their homes, disowned by their family members and even divorced on the grounds of their diagnosis. Poverty quickly fills the void created by retreating family members.
Neither a husband’s death nor a disfiguring disease justifies neglecting a human being. But in many societies in Asia and other parts of the world, this neglect is the norm and is even supported through legislation.
When individuals have the unique experience of rising out of poverty, they know what others in poverty around them need. When they have the chance to be a help to others or a voice for poverty alleviation, their firsthand experience will serve them well.
But look at what happens when positive values enter a widow’s life and replace damaging ones.
Last year, Gospel for Asia (GFA World) shared the story of a woman in Asia named Prina. When her two sons had grown, she discovered she had leprosy. Not long after her diagnosis, her husband was murdered during a land dispute. Prina now bore the double burden of leprosy and widowhood, both of which brought great ostracism from her community.
People with leprosy, like Prina, are often shunned, banished or ostracized in Asia and are often transformed when treated with respect and given unconditional love and compassion.
Prina was not forced to make her own way in the world, as many others have been, nor did she fall into extreme poverty as a result. But her son’s family, with whom she lived, banished her to one room in the house. None dared enter it. They brought her food once a day but only stood at the door. Prina was alone.
Then one day, some women from a local GFA Women’s Fellowship came to Prina’s home. Unlike most others in their culture, they did not fear Prina’s status as a widow or her disease. The women treated Prina with respect and love—something Prina had not experienced for many years.
The Women’s Fellowship team explained that Jesus loved her. Hearing this, Prina’s heart lifted. She mustered her courage and ventured out of her home to attend a worship service with her new friends. There, she received love and acceptance. And soon, after much prayer, Prina received healing from the physical pain her disease caused.
Prina’s son and the entire community witnessed a better way to treat widows and leprosy patients, and it left an impression. The values of unconditional love and compassion, lived out by a few women in the name of Christ, transformed Prina’s situation. And these values can transform so many more.
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA’s latest yearly report, this included more than 70,000 sponsored children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
Read the rest of Gospel for Asia’s Special Report: Fighting Global Poverty with Ideas — Uprooting poverty requires education that transmits values —Part 2
Learn more by reading these Special Reports from Gospel for Asia:
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, which inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to assist the poor and deprived worldwide – Discussing the hardships of poverty and widowhood, and the hope of rescue availed through God’s message revealed from a Gospel for Asia booklet.
After heavy winds collapsed her roof, Marial had no means to purchase the tin sheets needed to repair it. As a result, her home was a poor source of shelter from the winds and rains. When stormy weather returned, Marial was left exposed to the harsh elements.
Even though Marial could not read the booklet she was given, it started a conversation that also led to her being able to receive some much needed tin roofs through a GFA Christmas distribution.
Despair wound its way into Marial’s heart as she surveyed her situation. The meager pay she earned as a daily wage laborer was not enough to cover her costs for survival. As a widow living alone, Marial depended on the mercy of neighbors to supply her with whatever food they could spare. She certainly didn’t have money for a new roof.
Sitting in her dilapidated house, Marial wondered if there was a reason to keep living if she was only to be met with hardship and despair. In the midst of her struggles, it seemed there was no one who could rescue her.
Until one day, GFA pastor Dierick came by and offered Marial a booklet.
Gospel for Asia Booklet & A Curious Offer
Marial didn’t accept the booklet because she couldn’t read or write, but she was curious. Speaking with the young pastor, Marial questioned how words in a booklet could possibly have any benefit to someone with her needs for food and shelter.
“This is the Word of God,” GFA Pastor Dierick responded. “In it you will find God’s blessing in your personal life, and you will find true peace in Jesus.”
Questions formed as she considered the pastor’s words. What could this God do to change her situation? The deities to whom she’d prayed faithfully for relief from her destitute situation left her with no response. Was this God any different?
Pastor Dierick patiently answered all Marial’s questions and, before the conversation ended, invited Marial to attend his church.
A Better Gift
“That day, after I listened to the [Good News], I felt peace in my heart,” Marial shared. “I started to think about the words that I heard from the pastor. I started thinking about the love of Jesus and how He came down to earth and shed His precious blood on the cross of Calvary for the redemption of mankind.”
Marial began attending church and learning more about Jesus.
“The Lord indeed spoke to my heart and helped me to understand His divine love,” she said. “I started to spend time in God’s presence, and I prayed to the Lord to meet all my basic needs.”
As she attended church, Marial also learned about GFA’s Christmas gift distribution program. The program provided gifts that helped meet the financial and material needs of families in the community. Knowing her need for a new roof, Pastor Dierick secured a gift of five tin sheets to cover her roofless home.
“I could not believe my ears when I heard that news from the pastor,” Marial said. “With overwhelming joy, I thanked God for answering my prayers.”
Marial came to understand how deeply loved she is through the gift of a booklet, and through the gift of a roof over her head, she experienced God’s provision and was filled with hope for the future.
*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia World stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.
Learn more about the GFA World workers who carry a burning desire for people to know the love of God. Through their prayers, dedication and sacrificial love, thousands of men and women have found new life in Christ.
Learn how you can change someone’s eternal destiny by giving toward Gospel literature and tracts. It doesn’t cost much: Less than a penny will give someone a chance to hear about Jesus through a Gospel tract.
Last updated on: December 10, 2021 at 7:58 pm By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada – Discussing Rajasi, the sorrow and loss that invaded her life, the hope of Jesus that sustained her through widowhood, and God’s love and compassion shared as Gospel for Asia ministered to her family.
Rajasi’s relatives blamed her for the death of her husband. “All these [problems] happened in your life only because of your faith in Jesus,” they said. These wounding words stung Rajasi’s lonely, grieving heart. How different they were from the soothing words spoken by her neighbor about her Savior months earlier. But now who could she turn to? With her husband dead and her own relatives and community speaking against her—who would help her?
No Stranger to Sorrow
Even though Rajasi was only a young woman of 25, sorrow and difficulties were no strangers to her. Before she met Jesus, she and her husband, Mahasvin, were in anguish. Mahasvin worked faithfully as a laborer to provide for his two children and wife, until both his kidneys failed to function properly. At this devastating news, peace left the household, making room for fear to enter the young couple’s hearts.
Rajasi cried out in despair to all her gods, pleading with them to heal her husband. Mahasvin went to many hospitals and underwent treatments. But soon all their money was spent, and they had lost hope of him ever recovering. They heard no answers from their gods, and they were deeply discouraged. They had no one else to turn to.
They heard no answers from their gods, and they were deeply discouraged. They had no one else to turn too.
With Jesus, Everything Changes
The Lord used Pastor Victor (not pictured) and other believers to help Rajasi and encourage her husband during their times of struggle and heartache.
It was at this moment God sent a faithful believer to their home one day. She saw their grave condition and encouraged them with the Word of the Lord. Her gentle words of truth were like a healing balm to their wounded hearts, and they asked her to pray for them. After she prayed, she assured them of her continued prayers. Concerned for the couple, she brought their need to the attention of her Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor, Victor.
With compassion, Pastor Victor visited Mahasvin and Rajasi often, bringing words of encouragement to the couple. As time went by, Rajasi and her husband realized Jesus was the answer to all their problems. Together, they decided they wanted the everlasting love of Jesus to fill their lives.
But life did not grow easier when they made their decision to follow Christ. In anger, Mahasvin’s father turned against them and began to oppose them. But this never swayed their resolve to live in the hope and peace of Christ.
The Agony of Loss
After a few months, Mahasvin and Rajasi grew strong in their faith. But Mahasvin’s health continued to deteriorate due to his failing kidneys. Rajasi listened closely as her dying husband shared his last requests with her: Never forsake Jesus, but go to the worship place at any cost.
After Mahasvin’s death, Rajasi was heartbroken. She suffered through severe mental agony and pain, and to make matters worse, everyone placed the blame of her husband’s death on her shoulders.
Even though so many had forsaken her, Rajasi was not alone. Her church family stood with her during her bleak hours. They visited their sister in Christ and encouraged her to follow Jesus. Rajasi was strengthened by their words and upheld the plea of her husband to continue steadfast in the faith, even in the midst of opposition.
Gospel for Asia Ministered in Midst of Worry for Children’s Future
After Mahasvin’s passing, Rajasi was completely dependent on the income of her father-in-law, Farhat, to meet her and her young children’s needs—but so was the rest of the family. He worked in a small grocery shop, and many of her relatives became dependent on the income Farhat brought in.
Rajasi grew concerned about her children. She wanted them to have a good education, but her father-in-law would not give her extra money to send them to a good school. This troubled her deeply. Rajasi brought her worries before the Lord and the believers. Together, they all prayed for her need.
By God’s grace, Rajasi’s prayer was answered through a Gospel for Asia (GFA) gift distribution. On the happy distribution day Rajasi received a shiny, new sewing machine! The gift was such an incredible blessing in Rajasi’s life. She quickly began work by setting up a personal tailoring shop.
Gospel for Asia (GFA) ministered to Rajasi and she was so blessed to receive a sewing machine through a Christmas gift distribution. Through the help of believers around the world, women like Rajasi have the chance to earn a better income and experience the love of Jesus in a tangible way.
Within a few months, Rajasi was doing so well and received such a good income that she was able to buy a second machine to expand her business. Rajasi found a good school for her beloved children and is able to provide for their future.
Rajasi and her children weren’t the only ones blessed by the machine; her mother-in-law was also touched by the kindness of the believers. Although she was bedridden and unable to go to services, she longed to hear more about the God of love and compassion who provided for her daughter-in-law. God also worked in Farhat’s heart. While he still wants nothing to do with Jesus, he no longer opposes Rajasi for her faith.
Help ‘Sew’ into the Kingdom this Christmas!
God used a simple sewing machine and the love of His children to uplift Rajasi in her hour of need. Not only has it helped provide a way for her children to have a brighter future, but it also planted a seed of hope in her mother-in-law.
You can be part of answering a brother’s or sister’s prayer for God’s provision by choosing an income-generating gift in Gospel for Asia’s Christmas Gift Catalog! This year, make Christmas about ‘sewing’ into God’s kingdom, and spread the joy and hope of Christ!
*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.
Last updated on: January 19, 2022 at 8:11 pm By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World and affiliates like Gospel for Asia Canada) founded by Dr. K.P. Yohannan – Discussing Sadhri, a widow, the social discrimination, the emptiness and grief, and the heaven sent renewed life through Gospel for Asia Workers.
The day 23-year-old Sadhri buried her husband, she was blindsided by the news that her father-in-law was also dead. In a culture where a woman’s social standing is contingent on the men of the family, Sadhri, unmoored from the security of a husband and his father, feared the future that lay before her and her baby girl.
Before the dual tragedy, Sadhri’s family—her husband, their baby and Sadhri’s father-in-law—lived and worked at a tea garden in an area renowned as the largest producer of tea globally.
The days were long as Sadhri waded waist-deep through a sea of green, nimble fingers gliding over plant tops, plucking young leaves and buds and dropping them into the basket slung from her head. The chatter of other women floated over Sadhri, who preferred to keep her thoughts to herself.
Death Haunts the Tea Garden
Before that fateful day, Sadhri’s father-in-law had become ill and visited a doctor. He retreated home with medication to recover.
While he was still ill, Sadhri’s husband developed a mild fever. Death came so quickly they didn’t even have time to see a doctor. Then her father-in-law succumbed to his illness a day after his son.
After losing her husband and father-in-law, Sadhri (not pictured) feared the abuse and hardships faced by many widows in her community. Her future and the future of her baby girl were now shrouded by a darkness that tormented the young widow.
Sadhri turned from her husband’s funeral pyre. Shocked and alone, she carried her little girl back to the empty house.
Neighbors visited Sadhri, concerned at the suddenness of her losses, and offered words of sympathy. A believer and his wife from a local Gospel for Asia (GFA) supported church offered comfort from God’s Word and invited her to church. The young widow, unmoved by the love and attention, seemed paralyzed by her loss.
Sitting in emptiness and grief, morbid thoughts swirled through Sadhri’s head. Would everyone blame her for her husband’s death? What about her father-in-law’s? How would she take care of her daughter by herself? What future was there now for this child being raised by a widow? The whirlpool of thoughts pulled her deeper and deeper into depression. She could not bring herself to share her burdens, so she bottled them up. The only thing tethering her to this life was caring for her baby girl.
“In many countries, a woman’s social status is inextricably linked to her husband’s, so that when her husband dies, a woman no longer has a place in society,”
The mental strain Sadhri bore is common in societies where cultural norms cast widows in the role of perpetrator, blaming them for their husband’s death, rather than the role of devastated survivor. Even though many countries have passed legislation to protect widows, centuries of tradition are notoriously difficult to uproot, crushing widows under their burden.
“In many countries, a woman’s social status is inextricably linked to her husband’s, so that when her husband dies, a woman no longer has a place in society,” explained the UN in their 2018 report on International Widows Day.
With the sudden death of the two men Sadhri depended upon, she spiraled into mental shock. Sadhri started to notice strange occurrences. Things in the house seemed to move on their own. Her 2-year-old daughter had nightmares of her father beckoning her to join him.
At times, Sadhri felt like her husband was in the room with them. Sometimes it would be her father-in-law. Were they coming back to haunt her? Did they blame her for their deaths?
The mental strain led to physical sickness. Sadhri could no longer stay in her home alone; she moved to her mother’s.
Companionship and income are two of the greatest needs of widows who are cast off by their families. Sadhri (not pictured) found both in Bela, a missionary who rented a room in Sadhri’s house on the tea plantation.
Two Needs, One Solution – a Widow and a Gospel for Asia Worker
Sadhri traveled to the tea gardens from her mother’s house for several months, shuddering each time she passed her empty home. It would be so much easier to live at the gardens, but she could not bring herself to live there alone.
Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor Ekanpreet would sometimes see Sadhri at the tea gardens and share a word of encouragement. He prayed for Sadhri, seemingly weighed down by an invisible burden that absorbed all her energy just to carry.
One day, someone contacted Pastor Ekanpreet about a Gospel for Asia (GFA) woman missionary worker serving nearby looking for a room to rent. Could this be the Lord’s provision for the grieving widow? Maybe she could move back home if she didn’t have to be alone. The extra income would also be a huge help for Sadhri.
A New Kind of Family
Sadhri and her daughter moved back home, making room for their new housemate, Bela.
The two women fell into a daily routine, Sadhri leaving for the tea gardens while Bela went out to minister. In the evenings, they shared a meal and Bela opened her Bible for devotions.
Sadhri listened politely at first, but as the words began to pierce her heart, she leaned in with great intensity. In bed, the words stayed with her, calming her thoughts and filling her dreams. The house no longer seemed haunted and Sadhri’s grief began to ease.
Friendship deepened between the women and brought solace to Sadhri’s lonely heart.
Sadhri continued working in the gardens, quietly picking tea leaves, but now her mind was filled with encouragement and hope. A smile played at her mouth as she dwelt on the goodness of God and His mercy.
Gospel for Asia (GFA) supported workers (missionaries, pastors, Women’s Fellowship leaders and Sisters of Compassion) specifically reach out to abandoned widows, offering encouragement and care for their practical needs. Many widows end up joining local churches, where they experience love and belonging.
The words shared by Bela returned to her again and again: God is our Father, Savior and best friend; nothing is impossible in Jesus Christ; the only thing is to believe in Him completely. The words washed over Sadhri and revived her hope in the future.
Life Renewed
Pastor Ekanpreet visited the women and rejoiced in their close bond. He prayed for the women and taught them from God’s Word. Sadhri started attending Pastor Ekanpreet’s church and found a community eager to embrace her with love.
Many a widow throughout Asia have found a new family in Gospel for Asia (GFA) supported churches – Pastors, national workers, women missionaries and Women’s Fellowships reach out to these vulnerable women, knowing the discrimination and poverty that threaten them. Gospel for Asia (GFA) supported workers have many tools to combat the struggles common to widows, tools such as vocational training to replace the income lost by their husband’s death, gifts of clothing and household essentials that may have been confiscated by relatives, and income producing gifts such as goats and pigs.
Pastors, missionaries and local believers also embrace widows who have been cast out of their families, offering love and connection to women who have lost more than just financial security.
They are ambassadors of God’s love and bridges into His family.
Sadhri no longer feels alone in the world. She is strengthened to live a full life and has regained hope for her daughter’s future. The threat of poverty has been dismantled, and the curse of widowhood has retreated in the face of a loving community. Sadhri has picked up the pieces of her life and sees a way forward for her and her daughter.
Like the woman pictured here, Sadhri could smile again after she found a new hope in Jesus. Life no longer seemed uncertain and scary. She knows God will take care of her and her daughter.
*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are GFA stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.
On last year’s International Widows Day, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said when countries build back from COVID-19, they must also work to dismantle laws that discriminate against women. He said the isolation and economic hardships brought on by the pandemic can further compromise widows’ ability to support themselves and their families and cut them off from social connections during their greatest time of grief.
Thanks to quality, value-centered education, children become well-rounded, capable, confident adults. They know how to implement knowledge to better themselves and others, and they have a sense of participation in the world around them.
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