Farmers taking a picture in front of reservoirs of the village

Extreme weather has caused frequent disasters around the globe. Central India is one of the areas heavily affected by the lack of precipitation, the farmers there are experiencing a painfully prolonged drought. In the Chitrakoot district where an alarmingly low level of rain has been recorded for 3 straight years. Men of the farming families were forced to look for other jobs in other regions, while the children and women were left behind with a depressive economy with seemingly no end to it.

Our partner in India, EFICOR, is closely monitoring the drought. They already provided clean water to 10,000 drought-affected families for a year, hoping to reduce the chance of malaria due to consumption of dirty water. They also stabilized the farmers’ food source by giving them drought-resistant seeds, while improving the irrigation system of 45 villages featuring rain-collecting reservoirs, and pumps and wells that transport the water for irrigation. Their efforts have greatly fertilized the land and improved the villagers’ yields.

EFICOR will continue to ease the lives of many under the drought in the coming year, totalling 5,000 families in 25 villages. In addition to installing irrigation systems, they will support 500 of the poorest families by improving their self-sustaining ability, such as giving them a livestock and building fences that fend away wild animals. These practical measures have become great blessings to the drought victims.

Though there was no rain, God did not abandon the farmers and sent angels among them. We pray that He would continue to bless their hearts and minds and alleviate the situation through our partner in the coming year.

Verses for Reflection:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:31-40)

Jesus told us in these verses that one of the things the Lord will consider on the day of judgment, is whether we had mercy upon those who were lacking. The logic was simple—those who help the needy, helped the Lord Himself.

Jesus has never been ambiguous in which side He’s on, the rich or the poor. Moreover, we could see His compassion to the poor in this passage, where He felt their pain, and felt their joy of being helped.

Pray that we could all be encouraged by this passage and serve the Lord through serving the poor, and pray that we would have the heart that is as compassionate and loving as His.

Prayer Items:

• Pray that our God who has sovereignty over the weather show mercy to India and bless its lands with timely rainfalls.
• Pray that God would continue to use EFICOR in responding to the physical and spiritual needs of the farmers.
• Pray that God would instill in more people the burden to help the farmers.