A young woman in India felt her life had effectively come to a close until she met people who were ready to show her Christ’s compassion.

Yahvat* married her husband six years ago. Her family was quite poor, but she was hopeful for her future with this marriage.

However, he neglected her. She hoped that things would improve with time, but instead the problems lingered, and no amount of prayers at the temples or incense or offerings seemed to improve her situation.

After a couple years, he left. Yahvat had been abandoned with no real education to support herself.

A Tale Told in Tears

With no other means to survive outside of begging, Yahvat moved back to her parents’ home. Her father is a rickshaw puller, and they are very poor, so she felt like a burden.

Her already slight hopes that her husband might return and make amends shrank as the weeks washed away. To make matters worse, he hadn’t even attempted to find out how she was faring in the months that had passed since he’d headed out.

“She is deeply hurt and troubled in her heart and mind because of these things,” a World Challenge team member reported. They met Yahvat when she joined one of the training centers the team had set up to help women develop vocational skills and micro-business experience.

“Due to her situation, she always looked very distraught and was struggling to grasp each of the lessons. One day, a couple on our staff invited her to the office and talked to her. Sobbing, she told them her story.”

The team offered to pray with her about these difficulties, but they wanted to do more to help.

Prayer Lifts the Darkness

The training center team decided to make Yahvat’s lessons free. They usually charge the students a token fee, more to increase the women’s ownership and investment rather than any real need to cover the center’s costs. In this case, though, they did not want to burden Yahvat with worries about how she would find even a few rupees to pay.

The staff continued to pray with her, and she began to feel joy whenever she came to the center. With her spirits lifting, she was able to grasp the lessons better, completed her course and even took the tailoring exam successfully.

Now she has begun a tailoring business out of her family’s house and is earning money. She still returns to the center often to visit the team, and they are praying for her salvation, that the truth of the gospel will sink deep into her heart.

Please join us in praying for Yahvat and the many others in India who need the hope of Christ!

*Not real name. For safety reasons, we don’t release names or specific locations in highly sensitive areas.