For millions of women in India, life is a day-to-day battle against poverty and despair. Most are completely reliant upon their husbands for survival. When he dies, is unemployed or runs away, women are left alone to care for themselves and their children. Having acquired few income-producing skills, many turn to prostitution. Some turn to suicide.

A large number of such suffering women are shockingly young: half of women in India aged 20-24 were married before they were 18 years old.

Many Christian Aid-supported native missionaries in India have opened sewing centers that not only provide women with vocational training, but also with the opportunity to fellowship with others and hear the gospel.

Lalitha was one such woman impacted by a Christian sewing center in Andhra Pradesh. A member of a poor animistic tribe, she was forced to marry her 19-year-old uncle when she was only 8. The man was addicted to alcohol and abusive, making her life unbearable.

By 19, Lalitha had two small children. She writes, "All my childhood just passed away like this. Only poverty and tears were my friends."

Lalitha’s despair grew as her husband, who worked as a day laborer, brought home less and less money to feed his family. She and her children often went hungry. Lalitha began to contemplate suicide. Then one day, she learned of a Christian sewing center in her neighborhood where women were taught to make a living.

"The atmosphere there touched my heart," Lalitha says. "I began to love the center. I would quickly finish my work at home and rush there not only to learn sewing, but also because I was longing for fellowship. The Friday prayer meetings introduced me to the gospel of Christ. I accepted Him as my personal Savior, and since then my life has changed. Now I go to church with my children."

Hers is only one story amid hundreds of women whose lives have been changed by vocational training centers across India. Pray for native missionaries as they reach women like Lalitha with the hope of Christ. Pray also for the millions of Indian women in need of such hope.