God loves to bring beauties from the ashes (Isaiah 61:3). He redeems the tragedies in our lives. He sent his Son, Jesus, so that we could have life and have it in abundance! (John 10:10) My team had the privilege this month to see the fruits of what the Lord has redeemed in the life of a family here in India and see how they are now using their position in the community to help others that need the same help that they once did.
Charusmita and Jayesh* are our ministry hosts in India and this is their story.
Charusmita and Jayesh both loved the Lord, but were from two different castes in India. Their families only agreed to an arranged marriage if Charusmita’s family didn’t have to pay a dowry. This left the young married couple in a difficult financial position. Its common in the Indian culture to live with the husband’s family but Jayesh’s family forced them to live on their own with no financial help from them. After getting married at ages 19 and 22, they started to fall in love. They soon had a daughter which left them in an even more difficult position than they were in before. Now they had to provide food for their baby girl, too. The first year was the hardest year of their life because their baby girl Smiley was so weak and kept getting sick from being undernourished. Charusmita’s eyes teared up as she told this part of the story. Charusmita had another baby girl two years later. The family could barely pay rent on their one room mud hut even with Charusmita teaching and Jayesh preaching. They were in a desperate position and lived like this for years.
But God is faithful.
During the time period of hardship, Charusmita and her husband decided that after attending a ten day conference for pastor’s wives she would go to her parents and ask for help. On the last day of the conference, a man came into the room and introduced himself. He felt that God had told him to go to this conference for a specific reason.
Sometimes God will call us to do things that look ridiculous to the outside world and especially make us feel ridiculous. But that is when trusting God is the only thing we’re able to do. Stepping out on the water where feet may fail is the only way to learn how to exercise trust in hearing God’s voice. The Lord will have to come through for you when you’re putting yourself in a ridiculous position! And that is what ended up happening.
Out of the 200 women in the room, this man approached Charusmita who was sitting in the back with her young daughters. He told her, “What you have made up in your mind to do, to pack up and leave, remember that I have not forsaken or left you. You do not have to go. Go home. Your daughter is weak and sick, but I will heal her. The people that have humiliated you and have told you that your family is worthless, I will raise you up in front of them and I will bless you.”
Whoa.
These were God’s words spoken directly to Charusmita.
He finally revealed the next chapter to His story…
Jayesh was a pastor in the local community that had worked his way up to training other pastors and becoming a district leader of a large ministry in India. This ministry was looking for a coordinator role for a new organization that would serve women and children. Jayesh interviewed many women for this position but could not find the right fit. So he suggested they look at his wife since she had the qualifications and seemed to be the right fit due to her experiences, the exact experiences that were their struggles.
Charusmita got the position and has been the district coordinator for almost 2 years now. Her family has been able to save up enough money from both their incomes to rent a beautiful two bedroom house. Their monthly rent is the equivalent of $73 in the States. Their standard of living and quality of life has increased so significantly that you would not be able to believe where they came from only a couple years prior.
But best of all, Charusmita is now able to help women every day in the same position that she once was in.
Half of all women in India develop anemia due to lack of essential nutrients. This lack of nutrition is then transferred to their children who have impaired physical and mental development. Nearly 22,000 Indians, mainly pregnant women, die every year due to severe anemia.
Through Rescue Pink, Charusmita is able to host nutrition education programs to these pregnant and nursing mothers living in villages, and provide healthy food so that they can pass on the vital nutrients to their babies. They also provide medical camps where just last year they were able to provide free medical care for 750 women and children. This is also a great way to get local doctors involved in Rescue Pink’s efforts because now these doctors have opened up their practice for free anytime a woman or child through Rescue Pink needs medical attention.
Another important program Rescue Pink has started is an entrepreneurship program that aims to support mothers of girl children from lower socio-economic backgrounds. In 2016, 22 women from local rural villages received micro-loans and have started their own businesses. They promised to repay their loan over the course of ten months and save a certain percentage of their earnings for their daughters. Throughout the course of the past ten months they’ve attended weekly meetings to receive training on how to run their businesses. Their commitment and passion to work hard to ensure a safe future for their daughters is impressive; they all had a 100% attendance rate at the meetings and have saved more than the required amount. In a couple days, they are officially graduating from the program! And my team will be part of this celebration!
Rescue Pink has initiated community groups among the women in the entrepreneurship program to create community among the women in the villages. It was hard for me to believe that these women in these villages don’t make very good friendships or have a close knit community. So these community groups have been so beneficial to the women, providing accountability for repaying their loans (if one woman can’t provide their monthly payment, the other women in the group have to cover for her), as well as providing emotional and practical support.
Rescue Pink is turning into a trusted refuge for both women and children. Because of what God brought Charusmita through, the other women trust her and confide in her. God is redeeming her story. God’s love radiates from her eyes when she smiles. My team basks in her laughter. Her husband loves to be silly so it is a perfect match. I see God’s fingerprints in their arranged marriage. It was a union arranged by God for the furthering of His love and kingdom!
In every nation, God is redeeming stories.
This is just one of them.
*names were changed for protection
