Gospel for Asia (GFA World) Updates & Reports from the Mission Field

Samali felt Ceyone’s forehead. It was hot with fever. For Samali, life couldn’t be much worse. She had already been abandoned by her husband who had left her for a life of crime, she was badly treated by her in-laws, and anxiety for her children’s future filled her heart. Now her eldest son, no older than 5 years old, had a critically high fever that wasn’t going away.

Samali quickly dialed a number on her phone. On the other end, women dressed in white saris with a gray band answered. They dropped everything they were doing to rush to Samali’s home. The Sisters of Compassion prayed earnestly for Ceyone once they saw the helpless little one seriously ill. By God’s power and grace, Samali’s son was healed completely! It was a miracle. That night Samali’s anxious heart experienced a miracle, too, as she believed in Jesus—the God who healed her son.

Quit School and Married Young

Samali grew up very poor. Her family was unable to support her all the way through her schooling, so she quit school after the fifth grade and later got married young. Samali moved into the home of her husband’s family. Life was contented and happy—until her husband, Kairav, began to drink.

Kairav’s drinking problem grew into a critical addiction. He started drinking in the morning. Eventually, after his two children were born, Kairav stopped going to work, and he began to steal his wife’s jewelry to buy alcohol. But Kairav didn’t just take his wife’s possessions; he also began to steal from his family members, his neighbors and shops around his village to feed his addiction.

Soon Kairav became a sought-after thief. His neighbors would sometimes catch Kairav and beat him, but nothing changed Kairav’s heart. He went from village to village so he wouldn’t get caught by the authorities. Innocent Samali bore the brunt of her husband’s poor decisions as her angry neighbors threatened her while they searched her home to find Kairav.

To make matters more painful, Samali’s in-laws started to mistreat her. Hurt and with no support from her runaway husband, Samali left her in-laws and returned to her parents’ home to find refuge. But Samali’s troubles traveled with her in her heart. Anxiety, fear and abandonment seemed to have victory over her life and emotions.

Sisters of Compassion Minister to Samali

In the village where Samali’s parents lived, Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Sisters of Compassion served the men and women around them. One day Samali made her way to a friend’s house. There, she found the Sisters of Compassion having a prayer meeting with her friend. Samali silently joined them. She sat and listened to God’s Word for the first time in her life.

After the prayers, the Sisters of Compassion chatted with Samali and learned her sad story. The sisters gave her their phone number and told her she could call them whenever she needed prayer.

Throughout the following weeks, the sisters began to visit Samali from time to time to check on her and to bring some joy and comfort into her life. When they received the anxious phone call from Samali the night of her son’s high fever, they willingly came to pray for him. Healing took place that night—not only in Ceyone’s body, but also in Samali’s heart. One found new health; the other found new life in God’s love.

New Hope, New Life

As Samali’s faith in Jesus grew, she began to attend church with the Sisters of Compassion. She started to see how the Lord answered her prayers and the prayers of the women missionaries. The Lord provided a job for her, which enabled her to send Ceyone to school. She also began to pray for Kairav’s life to be turned around.

By God’s redemptive power, Samali received word from her in-laws that her husband had returned home after being gone for an entire year. When she and her children went to visit Kairav, Samali could see a change in his life. He wasn’t drinking so heavily or stealing as much as he had been. It was another answer to prayer.

‘God Removed My Sorrows’

Samali’s life now has true hope for the future, and though she still faces difficulties, she is no longer alone or anxious about the future. She knows Jesus is with her. As the Sisters of Compassion bear Samali’s burdens and join her in prayer for her husband and the well-being of her children, Samali knows the Lord will answer.

“I am so very thankful to God and the Sisters of Compassion team for introducing Jesus to me,” she says. “I was going through a tough time in life, but God removed my sorrows. I have overcome the sad situation.”

Please pray for Samali and her children. Pray also for her husband, Kairav, to come to know the hope and peace she has found in Christ.

Find out how a lonely widow named Dazi found companionship through Sisters of Compassion.