When I met Nagamani, she was smiling, confident, and praising God. And they shared with her the truth that she is made in the image of God, with purpose and potential and value. They’re providing school fees for her son. They bought her a sewing machine and helped her get a tailoring business up and running. Although she was Hindu, the local church learned of her situation and began taking care of her. No wonder “widows” is the Bible’s go-to example of who the Church ought to be caring for. After all, what becomes of ‘property’ when its owner passes? Unless it is especially valuable (not the way much of the world sees women), it is useless. At the loss of a husband, all these injustices come crashing down on a woman, young or old. Girls and women are often trafficked or prostitute themselves because they don’t see other options. Child marriage is sadly common, where girls are married off to much older men. In many places, they have no inheritance rights and few job opportunities. They are far less likely to receive an education past elementary school. They are commonly considered men’s property (first their father’s and then their husband’s). Girls and women in many countries start out at a disadvantage. In fact, there are about 38 million women like Nagamani-women who were already materially poor and socially vulnerable, for whom widowhood has left them in a desperate situation. We’ve encountered many widows in other parts of the Majority World whose stories are similar to Nagamani’s. Unfortunately, Nagamani is far from alone. Death felt preferable to a long life of worthlessness and watching her children suffer. She had no way to provide for herself and her children, no safety nets, and no hope for the future. When her husband died, she was essentially booted out of his family. Nagamani was raised to believe that her only value-her only life option, really-and her source of security was as a wife and mother.
She told us she used to think about suicide constantly. Yet when she lost her husband, she felt her life was over. While I was there, I met and talked with a widow named Nagamani. If you have a topic or church idea featured in the “Sunday Focus” series, please click here to contact Pastor Mark.I had the opportunity to visit India a few months ago.
#Praying for widows and orphans free
Please feel free to comment that you are praying as well. I encourage you to pray for the noted focus every Sunday.
#Praying for widows and orphans series
“Sunday Prayer Focus” is the Sunday series at. “God, I pray that we would love on this part of our family, especially during this season of the year.”Īdditionally, I hope that this request will remind us to also include this group of our church family in our planning, preparation, and time together.I pray that the church family would be intentional to include the widows and widowers in different aspects of gatherings throughout the season. Then I want to encourage us to pray for the church family.Next, I pray that they would be open and transparent to their church family about the joys, struggles, and needs that they have during this time of year.First, I pray for widows and widowers that they would be encouraged by God’s Word, and continue to seek their purpose in glorifying God in all they do.With this in mind, I ask that you would join me in praying for the widows of the church family. However for some, like the widows and widowers of our church family, this time of year is difficult We are beginning the time of year when holiday parties, family gatherings, and a lot of business. This group of the church family is in my thinking and my prayers more often at this time of year. This Sunday prayer focus will be on the church family members who find themselves as a widow or widower during the holiday season. Topic: Widows and Widowers (Holiday Edition)
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