Imagine with me, for a moment, that you’re an impoverished parent living in a Muslim nation in Southern Asia.
You have no money for food, and no prospects. When a brothel owner approaches you about buying your infant, what would you do?
You know a brothel is a horrifying place for a child to grow up, but when the alternative is starvation, you might be convinced you had no other choice.
As a mother myself, I can hardly imagine being faced with that choice. And yet is a reality for many of the young mothers living in Southern Asia. They literally have to choose between starvation and prostitution for their children.
But the work Mel and Jillian are doing through Thrive is working to change all of that. Instead of having to sell their children for food, the women who come to Thrive center are provided with not only food, but health care and training about how to care for their growing children.
They also help many others who are struggling in poverty, such as Fuli, whose husband’s income as a rickshaw driver was insufficient to provide adequate nourishment for Fuli and her two young daughters. Five days a week, Fuli and her girls were able to receive the food they needed to be healthy.
The feeding program they offer at Thrive Ministries 5 days a week provides food, health care, and training to these new mothers until their babies are a year old. Alongside this feeding program, they also offer a sewing program so that young women don’t end up in the brothels.
In the Muslim nation where these mothers live, women and children are considered of little value. No one else is even attempting to offer these types of services to the women who need them. But we know and understand that every man, woman, and child is precious in the eyes of Jesus, and it is our privilege to partner with Thrive this month as they work to meet the tangible needs of these Muslim women.
Every weekday, for an entire year, each of the mothers that Thrive serves will come into contact with people who follow Jesus. Would you pray with us that as the love of Jesus shines brightly in those dark places, that many of these women and children would come to know Him?
Would you also pray for the workers at Thrive? This type of work can be very emotionally draining, so pray for God’s grace to abound to them and give them perseverance in their work for His kingdom.
Thanks so much for your prayers, and for the role you play in this community. We couldn’t do this without you!
If you’d like to give to the work Mel and Jillian are doing with Thrive, you can give securely here.