SENAU, ARUNACHAL PRADESH – Members of the Believer’s Eastern Church in Senua reached out to help about 30 widows living in the village on International Widows Day, What the church did was quite unusual, at least for westerners, yet deeply appreciated by the recipients.
The Senua BEC regularly looks after the needs of widows with food, clothing, and other basic necessities. On International Widows Day, they wanted to do something special, so they gave them sheets of corrugated galvanized iron (CGI). Before you think that a sheet of CGI is a gift on the scale of an ugly Christmas sweater, put yourself in the widows’ shoes. Better yet, put yourself in the widow’s homes.
Try to envision the one-room home constructed from mud and discarded scrap materials. Look around and realize that there are barely any earthly goods that enough food to get by, pots for holding water, and, maybe a tiny place to cook. Now, look up.
As you shift your gaze to the ceiling, you will soon realize that the ceiling is also the roof. More than likely it is comprised of bamboo, some composition of thatch, or a scavenged blue plastic tarpaulin. The problem with each of these is that they are not designed to keep the rain out. While the tarps seem like a luxury, they frequently sag under an abundance of rain. The common roofing materials are simply inadequate.
The CGI will not leak. Because it is galvanized, it will not rust. Because it is corrugated, it sheds the water down each channel and away from the interior
The guest of honor at the presentation, a local elected official, commented,
“I am pleasantly surprised how the Believers Eastern Church leaders are helping the poor and downtrodden widows through this noble gesture. As so far in my political career I attended the various program in different places but for me, this program is special one where I witnessed widows are given respect and gratitude and help. And I further encouraged all the people to take part in observing this kind of special occasion because in one or another way all the widows are our sisters, mothers, and relatives.”
BEC Senua demonstrated the love of Jesus not only by giving in His name but giving the way that He gives, supplying our needs. While readers may not appreciate a gift of a sheet of CGI, each of the Senua widows expressed their gratitude for a gift they needed but could not afford on their own.
Source: Arunnachal24, International Widows Day Celebrated at Senua Village in Longding
Image Sources: GFA (Gospel for Asia)
