The Other Half

Last week I went to a slum not far from my home on a photo assignment. I had been there before, but never as far in as we went on this day. Most people in this slum live from day to day, not knowing if they will have enough money for their next meal or enough dry fire wood to cook their food. The breadwinners in this slum are primarily the women who typically work as maids. The majority of the husbands don't work and spend all the money that the women make on alcohol. I went into four houses that day. Each house was probably a little bit bigger than your bathroom at home. It's common to see nine adults and three or four children living in spaces a fraction of the size of your living room. Here are some of the things I saw inside each home:

Inside two houses

This corner of the house serves as a shower, dish washing area and laundry room

Can you see how the house is open to the elements behind the cups? This was actually a nicer home because it had a gas stove top. And of course, Coca Cola is everywhere!

The owner with pictures of her gods in the background.

The stories that each woman shared were heart-wrenching. One woman told us how her husband would come home drunk everyday, choke her, beat her and her daughters and then demand that she give him the money she had made that day so he could buy more alcohol. I saw another boy whose father literally threw him outside the house on his stomach onto the hard cement. His stomach was swollen because his dad had thrown him so hard. He couldn't have been more than 6 years old. And this is how it goes, day in and day out for many of the hundreds of families that live here.

But there are other stories. Stories about a family of Believers who opened their home just around the corner from the slum. About how this family feeds more than 200 children a day. Sometimes this is the only meal this children have each day. This family also helps the children with their homework and for those children who can't afford to go to school (a rather pricey thing for many families in India), free tuitions are offered. Some families have made public professions of faith because of the testimony of Believers they have met through this family. Others are secret Believers. God is moving in this slum and doing something among the people of this neighborhood. However, many people continue to bow to idols and look to inanimate objects for peace.

Some of the homes that I entered that day asked me to pray for them before I left. Would you join me in praying for the special people of this slum as I did last week:

• Ask that the people of this slum would know the One true living God.
• Ask that He would reveal Himself to them in dreams and visions.
• Pray that the people that live here would find peace that only comes from JC.
• Ask that new Believers would stand strong in their faith.
• Pray a special blessing for the women of this slum. Many of the women in this slum are constantly devalued and abused. Ask that they would know the Lover of their soul and look to Him for strength in the midst of the challenging conditions they face each day.