Contributed by Vinita Shaw, Founder & CEO of DISHA Foundation
Words fail me as I live and work in New Delhi, India, amidst an explosion of people, choking pollution, heavy traffic, and runaway inflation. Depressing news headlines report cases of abandoned baby girls and rape of two-year-olds, and the unending flow of rural India into the city, adding to the existing poverty and squalor of the slums.
Indian girls and women are forced to bear the brunt—being illiterate and vulnerable.
We have found them to be as unsafe in their homes as they are outside. Be it a stepfather forcing herself on a minor girl, a sister forcing her sibling to join her in the dance bar, or a cousin-brother assaulting a little girl, day after day the gory details flow in as we continue in our vision to encourage and empower girls and women by extending our hand to help.
Poverty-stricken mothers have no option but to sell off their babies while others come begging to our doors for help as they take their young daughters for abortions time and again.
Dark, very dark it is, all around. It is easy to fall prey to the darkness and hopelessness and if one is not careful to seek his or her encouragement in the Lord like David did, it is easy to become depressed.
In Psalm 62, David, the shepherd boy who became the King of Israel, pours out his soul before the Lord when he says, “In God ALONE do I trust.” The word ALONE is used several times. David trusted not in riches, not in power, but God alone.
When we help women, we encourage them to help themselves. We teach women to help one another and stand with one another.
We teach women the following two principles of life:
- Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.
- Life is like a boxing ring. Defeat is not declared when you fall. It is declared when you refuse to get up
For the girls and women in India, that is the way forward. Please continue to pray for us as we encourage ourselves in the Lord and encourage our fellow women to find their refuge in Jesus.
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