The Bible tells us to take care of the orphan, the widow, and the alien. It’s easy to see these are some Jesus referred to as “the least of these.”

Gospel for Asia is using this day to focus on widows in South Asia.

According to GFA, there are over 40 million widows in South Asia who struggle every day just to live.

Often, widows are blamed for their husband’s death, so not even family will help out.

It’s International Widows Day.
(Photo courtesy of GFA)

One in four homes in India belong to widows. That’s 25%! They often resort to prostitution or street begging just to provide for their children. Some even gather food from the trash.

Gospel for Asia also reports that for some women, the only way out they can see is suicide.

That’s why GFA is providing free medical checkups, sewing machine and tailoring classes, new clothes, food and water and other basic necessities, and animals that can provide an income.

You can be a part of this not only today, but every day. You can help these women get back their dignity. You can help them wake up in the morning without having to wonder where they’ll get their food for the day.

Your gift and your support could be the open doors pastors in the area need to share the hope of the Gospel.

If you would like to support widows financially, here’s the link.

As you read this, pray for God’s protection over widows of the world. Pray that they would be able to see the hope that’s in Christ Jesus, even in their dire circumstances.

“This is a humanitarian crisis,” says Oddney Gumaer with Partners Relief and Development. “People are dying every day because they don’t have enough food and they don’t have clean drinking water.”

She visited the area recently, and states, “The things I saw are very disturbing.”

Gumaer made her first trip to refugee camps in Rakhine in October 2012.

“I’ve never seen the kind of poverty that I saw in the camps with the Internally Displaced People,” says Gumaer. “People are literally starving to death and there is a huge lack of medical care.”

After going virtually unnoticed by the international community for several months, some groups are starting to take notice. Gumaer thinks it’s a result of Burma’s government saving face.

“The government probably doesn’t want the world to see that everything is not well in Burma; there’s been so much focus on the good reforms that have happened,” she states.

“To bring any kind of attention to this just proves that there’s a long way to go in Burma before it’s a democracy, and before it’s a fair society for all the people.”

Partners alerted MNN to the desperate situation in November, when the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was estimated at 95,000. A Partners worker said the Rohingya people were suffering “Ethiopia-like starvation” while updating MNN in December.

Now, between 120,000 and 200,000 Rohingya Muslims are suffering in refugee camps without food, water, or medical care.

Sectarian conflict between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims living in western Burma has waged for decades. The current situation arose after three Rohingya men were accused of raping and killing a Rakhine woman in May 2012.

“This violence, although it seemed like it started from one particular incident, was just a result of many, many years of oppression, hatred and racism,” explains Gumaer.

She adds that the Rohingya are denied basic human rights, including citizenship in both Burma and neighboring Bangladesh.

“They’re not able to get educated, they’re not able to go to hospitals… they’re not allowed to travel, even in their own state,” she explains. “For many generations, these people have been oppressed and discriminated against.”

Even Burma’s government picks on the harassed Rohingya. They’re actively keeping large aid groups at bay, but Partners found a way in.

“We just started building relationships with the local population. And in that way, we’ve been able to get in and deliver aid,” Gumaer states.

What teams see when they arrive is unimaginable.

“They watched babies die every day, and it was all deaths that could’ve been prevented if the baby and the mother just had some food,” says Gumaer.

Spiritual needs run deep, too. Gumaer explains that to be a Rohingya is to be Muslim. But sometimes, she can offer another source of hope for dark times the Rohingya face.

“What is it like when you’ve lost all your family members, when you’ve seen your children and your grandchildren die and you’re the only survivor?” Gumaer says, describing the questions Rohingya face daily. “What is the point of continuing to live after a disaster like that? There is a need for these people to know that they’re loved, that somebody cares about them.

“There is a need for them to understand the power of forgiveness, because how else are they supposed to continue their lives?”

Ask God to save the Rohingya people from physical and spiritual despair. Pray the government will allow aid to reach the Rohingya soon.

Gumaer says that as she builds relationships with the Rohingya people, she can share more about the Gospel and salvation through Jesus Christ. For now, it’s a matter of showing God’s love through action.

“To be there and to be Jesus for them, to show them His love through my actions and through my words and through my life: that’s the best thing I can do for them at the moment,” says Gumaer.

Click here for a hands-on way to help the Rohingya people through Partners.

Of India's approximately 1.21 billion people, 40 million are widows. There's a widow in one of four homes. And even though she and others like her make up a significant part of the population, a South Asian widow rarely receives the love and respect usually reserved for elders.

Widowhood is at the absolute bottom of India's five-tiered caste system, falling even below the Dalits or "Untouchables." They can't remarry or wear jewelry and are often forced to shave their heads. Because of her husband’s death, a widow is seen as a curse; even her shadow is considered bad luck.

Many widows are left to care for smaller children and receive little or no help from relatives, so street begging or prostitution quickly becomes a way of life.

Grown children often ignore the needs of an elderly widowed mother, and 92% of India's women age 70 and older are widows. Realizing the pain and desperation these women face daily, a Gospel for Asia fellowship decided to hold a special event for elderly widows.

Believers invited women from nearby villages as well as their own, and more than 150 people gathered to celebrate the 48 widows who accepted the invitation.

Many people believe that a headscarf signifies respect and honor for women. Hindu women will cover their heads and at least partly obscure their faces in the company of unrelated adult males, highlighting the fact that veiling is not exclusively Muslim.

At the GFA event, each widow received a headscarf, a true honor to women who have been soundly disregarded for years.

“I am really happy and thankful to Pastor Barnabas, because for the first time in my life, I am receiving this special gift,” said Sadhvi, a 97-year-old widow. “No one had given me one before.”

After distributing the scarves, three women from local churches shared from the Bible, expressing Christ’s love for the widows and sharing how they could follow Him.

“I came to know that there is someone who always cares about people like us,” said 75-year-old Laabha. “He is the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The widows left with joy in their hearts, and the church is already praying about what they can do next to show God’s love.

Pray that God would keep revealing His love for these women through GFA. Pray that widows would come to salvation through Jesus Christ after hearing about His love.

Pastors in India supported by GFA live Isaiah 1:17 daily: "Learn to do good. Seek justice. Defend the cause of the orphans. Fight for the rights of widows." They help widows in need and buy them income-producing tools like sewing machines and farm animals, or an essential supply like winter blankets or water filters.

With these gifts, many times comes the opportunity to learn of Jesus Christ. You can help deliver hope to some of the most broken women in Asia by clicking here.