Friday 1 February 2008

I was hungry


I paint pictures of my country which feature the good, the bad and the ugly because we are living in a real world and reality hurts a lot.


Man dies of hunger and cold... We read stories like these nearly everyday and see TV reports about them.


The Hindustan Times newspaper reported on Jan 29th that a Muslim man named Majid died of hunger in a village close to our state capital.

He had been without a job since the past 3 years and was eeking out a living as a village barber.He and his wife Mehernissa have 10 children.I have to add here that poor, impovershed and uneducated people cannot make the connection between poverty and the number of children they bring into the world.

The government has a programme by which people living below the poverty line should get rations.But due to red tape and corruption it doesn 't get to them.


Majid 's family had been hungry for 4 days.Mehernissa went to a neighbour and asked her for some wheat flour.The neighbour gave her half a kilo (about one pound) of flour with which she made chapatis and gave to her family.Majid did not eat and asked his wife to give his share to his hungry children.At nightfall he covered his young ones with the only quilt they possesed and went and sat outside his hut.In the morning they found him dead.Neighbours pooled money for his funeral.


Now what is the widow to do with her children? After all this took place the government and NGOs came to their aid and gave them food and money.But the tragedy had already taken place.

The need is so great and our resources meagre but we try to do our tiny bit.Everyday we give away vegetables and other things to poor people we come into contact with. One just cannot turn away. In India nothing is wasted.Maintaining our vegetable garden is costly and I complain rather loudly but one of the reasons for having it is sharing the produce with others.
Jesus said; I was hungry and you gave me food.
I just had to share this story because it broke my heart.
__________________
My parents have had a soft heart for the needy.We are not rich but God has supplied all our needs .A month back a friend told us something we never knew.
Years ago my parents were helping a young widow with 2 small girls get a high school education.This young woman came to visit us just before Christmas.Her daughters had been pestering her to buy bangles for them but she did not have any money .Before she left my parents gave her some cash and she was so joyful , she went to the bazar and got bangles and gifts for her girls.She shared this with the mutual friend who told us this story.She has a job and is a grandmother.
Although we Christians are earthen vessels, cracked in many places we have to let the light shine through the cracks.

19 Fertilize my soul:

Natalie said...

yes, we are all broken vessels, letting Jesus's kught shine through.

That is so sad about that man and his family.

Sara said...

oh amrita, this breaks my heart. so unnecessary and such a tragedy. i will pray for this family. and oh, Lord, give us wisdom and compassion.

Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Hi Amrita,
That was a beautiful moving post you made. The man died of hunger and with his supposed to be last meal, he even gave it to his hungry children. The story pinched the heart. That was so wonderful of you to maintain your vegetable garden to share the produce with those who are hungry. And your mother was so wonderful too to shoulder the education expenses of your poor neighbor without telling anybody about it. You are true Christians and the Lord will bless you more for the wonderful things you are doing for His glory. You are indeed a light of the world and a salt of the earth so worthy of the name Christian attached to your earthly names. Thanks for the moving post. You just made my day and lift up my spirit. God bless you and your family always.

the mother of this lot said...

I am sure you will be blessed for what you are doing Amrita.

Simply Shelley said...

Hello Dear Amrita, what a sad, sad story. God Bless this family and I pray he will comfort their hearts over the loss of the father and husband. May God bless you, Amrita and your family for your efforts to help others and letting your light shine so brightly.

Blessings,Shelley

Shari said...

When I first started reading blogs from India, I thought I had read only what the media played on...a small percentage of poor Indians. Some bloggers from India have a servant or have their own house and I think, hey, they aren't all poor. I have much to learn. Then again, we have our homeless living in the streets of US. Every country has its poor. I'm sorry that family lost their father-he was so giving to let his kids eat his share of the food. It was sad. Thanks for sharing.

Gudl said...

That is so sad.
My husband and my son went to India a while ago on a missions trip.
We do support an orphanage and a widow's project in India. ... but it is never enough.... my heart goes out to you .

Dick said...

Oh my, what a tragedy.

Mrs. Mac said...

Very sad 'painting' ... May the Lord bless you with abundant veggies to share with needy families.

Saija said...

yes, i echo mrs.mac ... may the vegetable garden be multiplied like the fish & loaves were ...

blessings to you ...

Amrita said...

Thank you for your comments friends.I am guilty of not doing as much as i should.Just pray for enablement and discernment.

Anonymous said...

Dear Amrita,
My heart goes out for that family.Jesus wants us to reach the poor and needy,Thats what He would do.Could we help this family and the 10 kids through school.I am sure all your blogger friends and myself want to do someting more tangible than just read about it and do nothing.Let help go directly to them.You coordinate and let us know.
Prem

Amrita said...

Thank you Prem for your kind offer.
God bless you.

Donetta said...

I accepted Christ after someone fed me an avocado. I was selling my beads on the streets to get food. This was in USA

Amrita said...

Oh Donetta, God found you through His love. Our love for our fellow man will show Christ to them.People can see God 's love in little acts of kindness.

Like I said the whole world is groaning for redemption...geographical borders don 't matter.

Shari said...

I prayed that God would bless your vegetable garden that you are sharing with hungry people. And that God would encourage other Christians in India to help the many people who don't have enough to eat. What a wonderful way to show the love of Jesus.

Autumn said...

Dear friend, thank you for bringing this to our attention. God bless you, and may be open our arms wider to let in those whom God loves but man forgets.

Amrita said...

Thank you autunmrose, for visiting my blog and for such caring and loving words. Yes we have to be the hands of Jesus in our world.

Shari said...

Amrita, I mentioned you in my Sunday post. http://www.onwardchristianwoman.blogspot.com/

I want to read you posts every day. Do you have a way that I can get them sent directly to my email - like Feedburner?