Workmanship

In the  month of  January we permitted  a government approved  charity to  hold a small exhibition cum sale for  10 days  in a tiny corner of  our  church  campus.

This  charity assists  and  trains  underprivileged  young  women from  rural  and  semi rural areas  to  learn  various handicrafts  and  skills . After  attending  their  school/college and finishing  their  household chores  the  girls  come  together to  learn needlework skills.

They  then sell the  fruit of  their  labour in the city and handicraft fairs. The money they  earn boosts  their family  income empowers  them as  women and  gives  them  self confidence as useful  earning  members  of society at large.

If they  sell  their  products to  city  shops  and traders, they  have  to  contend  with middlemen who  buy them  very cheaply and  sell  them at  exorbitant prices. For  example they  would purchase  a  hand  embroidered  bed cover  for  Rs 300  or so and  sell it  for   Rs  1000 in  the  shops. The  girls  hardly get  anything  for their  labour.

The  government  has  instituted  an Handicrafts Association under whose umbrella charitable   societies  can run  training programmes and also hold  sales.   Financial  aid  is  provided  for this  purpose.

We  thought this  to  be  a  noble  idea , so these  girls  could display their  skills  and  earn  some  money on our  campus.

Have a look at their handmade  linen and  clothes

The  girls  came by and chatted  with  mummy and me.

We  asked  them about their  lives and  families.

Before leaving they said

we spoke so kindly  to them.

One girl remarked to my mother,

"Aunty  we feel  you  have  a  heart

of  compassion  for  the  poor".

 'Not  all  city women are  so friendly '.

All  glory belongs  to God.

A  few  days   ago I read in  my newspaper  that

my  state  of  Uttar Pradesh has  the  most

cases  of  human rights  violations

in  the   whole  of  India.

Most  of  these  crimes are  against women.

The  police  is  no  help

thousands  of  complaints

have   been registered against

the  police.

Read  a  report  about  this

from  The Times  of  India

HERE

I want  to  conclude this post  with a

positive note with

the following article  by Ravi Zacharias

Our Father, the Weaver

By Ravi Zacharias

Some years ago, I was visiting a place known for making the best wedding saris in the world. They were the producers of saris rich in gold and silver threads, resplendent with an array of colors. With such intricacy of product, I expected to see some elaborate system of machines that would boggle the mind in production. But this image could not have been farther from the real scene. Each sari was made individually by a father and son team. The father sat above the son on a platform, surrounded by several spools of thread that he would gather into his fingers.

The son had only one task. At a nod from his father, he would move the shuttle from one side to the other and back again. This would then be repeated for hundreds of hours, until a magnificent pattern began to emerge. The son certainly had the easier task. He was only to move at the father's nod. But making use of these efforts, the father was working to an intricate end. All along, he had the design in his mind and was bringing the right threads together.

The more I reflect on my own life and study the lives of others, I am fascinated to see the design God has for each one of us individually, if we would only respond.

All through our days, little reminders show the threads that God has woven into our lives. Allow me to share a story from my own experience. As one searching for meaning in the throes of a turbulent adolescence, I found myself on a hospital bed from an attempted suicide. It was there that I was read the 14th chapter of John's Gospel.

My attention was fully captured by the part where Jesus says to his disciples: "Because I live, you shall live also" (John 14:19). I turned my life over to Christ that day, committing my pains, struggles, and pursuits to his able hands.

Almost 30 years to the day after this decision, my wife and I were visiting India and decided to visit my grandmother's grave. With the help of a gardener we walked through the accumulated weeds and rubble until we found the stone marking her grave.

With his bucket of water and a small brush, the gardener cleared off the years of caked-on dirt. To our utter surprise, under her name, a verse gradually appeared. My wife clasped my hand and said, "Look at the verse!"

It read: "Because I live, you shall live also."

A purposeful design emerges when the Father weaves a pattern from what to us may often seem disparate threads. Even today, if you will stop and attend to it, you will see that God is seeking to weave a beautiful tapestry in your life.