Vimala's Thanksgiving Journey

This week as you prepare to give thanks with family and friends, YOU are at the top of Vimala's list of things to be thankful for. Once terrified and haunted by suicidal thoughts, Vimala now gives thanks for you and prays for other India widows who need the hope and help she has found in God. Anju Sahayadas translated this Thanksgiving message from her:

"The Bible stories my friend from KGM tells me and the prayers encourage me from the fear of suicide. They are my source of comfort and survival. Let the donors of this project be blessed and be able to help others who are suffering like me and having no other place to go. I really thank God for the KGM widow project." 

That's today, after you intervened. But to fully understand Vimala's deep and heartfelt gratitude for you, it's important you know her story.  Vimala's journey to hope began in terror. The worst happened when at age 47 her husband died...


Cast out of her home by her in-laws who blamed her for the death of their son, her daughter reluctantly agreed to give her shelter. No food. No medicine for her diabetes. In exchange, she would help support her disabled daughter and her two grandchildren  But how? Uneducated, without work skills, it seemed impossible. Alone and terrified, thoughts of suicide haunted her....

Anju from KGM was filled with compassion for this lovely young woman who was an outcast for no other reason than the death of her husband.. But she was not surprised. Sadly, thousands of Indian widows, most of them disowned by their families, live in deplorable conditions. The women suffer acute poverty and are shunned by a superstitious society that thinks they are bad luck. For lack of education and any source of income many beg on the streets. Others turn to prostitution to survive. This dismal future without hope would have been Vilma's fate but God stepped in thorough KGM's The Well partners. 

Members of The Well give Vimala and other marginalized widows monthly support ($15) for food and medicine aid. This small sum keeps Vimala's daughter from abandoning her and the prayers and visits from KGM church families uplift her spirit. $180 (or 12 monthly gifts of $15) rescues a widow in need with medical and food aid plus encouragement visits for a year. To learn more:  Visit The Well community.