Among the many poor in the world, my attention is drawn to a corner of India that few know about. In the eastern state of Odisha, a tribal group known as the Soura people suffer under the cast system. They are considered lower than the "Untouchables." At various times in history, a street was cleansed by townspeople after a Soura Indian had walked by. Soura villages are hidden among the thick forests on steep, mountainous terrain. Worse still, unproductive land covers most of their tribal area. If you were to go there, you would notice that productive land barely yields enough for a family's survival, so additional resources are needed. Nearly 70% of Soura people are illiterate. Poverty, illiteracy, food insecurity, under-employment, low wages, and systemic social discrimination make the Soura part of the "least of all" people about whom Jesus spoke. On top of that, imagine being a widow under those circumstances!
Ajalita Gomano is a young widow. Her husband died two years ago after bleeding from his nose and ears when walking home from work. He was declared dead at the community health center. To complicate matters, Ajalita lost her husband's land when her brothers-in-law forcibly took her property away from her. As a daily wage laborer, she now earns barely enough to keep her two young children alive.
Ajalita, like many other widows, heard about the Soura Widows Program funded by CBM, Canadian Baptist Ministries, in partnership with Soura Baptist Christian Mndali Sommilani churches. $276 enables her, and other widows, to participate in training workshops and obtain enough to start a small business. And of course, there are other widows: Ebita, Simothy, and many others who struggle in northeastern India.
Whatever corner of the globe God calls you to think about, listen to the probing of the Holy Spirit as he calls you to come alongside the "least of these." (Thanks to LIVE magazine for this news.)
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