Go Beyond

“It’s a Girl” — the three deadliest words in India. The subcontinent is a dangerous place for women. Gendercide or sex-selective abortions are commonplace. The abuse of young girls and women as a result of rape, the dowry system, human trafficking, and domestic violence are alarming. That’s why our missions ministry underwrites the cost of the only radio broadcast in India that addresses all issues concerning women from a biblical worldview.

My friend Vinita Shaw, hosts this radio program that reaches a potential listening audience of 80 million people on the subcontinent. Vinita speaks about women’s issues all over the world, has authored several books, and recently addressed the United Nations. Vinita sent me a story about a young woman whose experience is typical of what so many women in India experience. I offer it here for your consideration and to ask you to pray for the welfare of women and young girls in India.
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By Vinita Shaw

Founder of Disha Foundation

I have been sleepless since I met both of them. Mother and daughter. 
Beautiful, smiling, full of charm and grace.

Unbelievable!

How can they smile, having gone through and still going through their valley of pain, I wonder as I keep tossing and turning on my bed and offer a prayer for them. How can a human heart take so much pain.

My mind refuses to comprehend!

Rani, the mother, was discarded at birth by her doctor parents from Rajasthan, the desert state of India. The reason — her faulty gender! She was born a girl. One would have thought doctors would never do such a thing.

Raised by a Christian missionary, she grew up to marry a good man — or so she thought. The beginning years were alright and a son was born.

However, as the marriage grew older, they grew apart. His women-chasing habits were the reason. As a faithful Indian woman, she confided in no one. All looked wonderful on the outside. Who would have guessed that she was living in hell.

“You are a worm from the dirty drain who was abandoned by her own mother,” he would say to her.

Physical and verbal torture was a normal part of her life.

As if his unfaithfulness was not enough, the verbal torture slowly began to affect her health and she had to have a heart surgery. Yet, she confided in no one. Who would she confide in? She had been taught to hide her pain behind a cosmetic smile. She also had to have her uterus removed, due to various medical complications. They could not have another baby. It would have to be only one son.

But then, Rani was caught by surprise one day when she found a little baby girl lying on her door step. Even the blood on her umbilical cord had not dried.

The compassion within her arose. After all, she also had been left behind by her parents. But why at her door, she often wondered. Rani would know years later that the child was the product of her husband’s unfaithfulness for as the baby grew it became apparent to one and all about who the father of the child was.

Nevertheless, she continued to love the baby girl.

In the meanwhile, she had to have more heart surgeries and a day came when she could not take the pain any more and decided that enough was enough.

Today, she lives with her seven year old daughter, who is not her biological child but rather a daily reminder of her husband’s unfaithfulness. 
She struggles on with life, depending on God and the love of her little one whose name is Joy. 
Being sickly, she is often in and out of hospital which makes the little girl very insecure and nervous. “What if my mom dies?” Her silent eyes look at me with concern.

Badi ma, meaning elder mother, is what she calls me and my heart hugs them silently as I continue to love them and think of ways in which to help them.

I can understand the fears of the little one. What I cannot understand is when Rani, the mother, looks at me with tear filled eyes and smiles at me saying,”I love him deeply. Even today, if I see from a distance, I keep looking out for him. We were married for 21 years and he will always be the love of my life.

In the midst of so much pain which is mental, emotional and physical, Rani reaches out to helping Indian women.
 She is a new partner of Disha Foundation as the vision of Disha is to encourage and empower girls and women in the Indian society to not give up but rather to face challenges that life throws their way. As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

There are millions of baby girls who are killed in the wombs of their mothers only because Indians prefer a male child. If born, they are abandoned like Rani and Joy were. A burden, a liability, and bad luck is what they are considered. 
A country where millions of gods and goddesses are worshipped, this ill treatment of girls and women is unthinkable.

We believe education and strong laws that are executed is the way forward to bring about a social change in India. Pray for us as through radio programs and financial assistance we make efforts to bring this change.