With My Husband Gone, What Will Happen to Me and My Son?

It’s Christmastime, “the most wonderful time of the year”! And we at Gospel for Asia believe the Lord God desires all peoples to enter into His joy this season—and all year ‘round. That is why the angels proclaimed at the Christ’s birth that they bring “good news of great joy that will be for all people” (see Luke 2:10).

But for some, instead of joy, the holiday season heralds in a season of loneliness and discouragement, especially for those who may not have anyone to celebrate with or who have lost the ones they used to celebrate with. Grief and heartache shroud our joy, and Christmastime can become just another event filled with painful memories of what has been lost.

Imani understood this grief. She had lost her husband, who was a Gospel for Asia-supported pastor, and her heart filled with sorrow. She wondered how she would care for her son alone. But then something wonderful happened that helped lift the shroud of loneliness and discouragement.

The local church had a Gospel for Asia-supported Christmas gift distribution to take care of those in need, and she received a weaving loom. To Imani, it showed her how the Lord and His Church had not forgotten her.

“I was thinking, What will happen to me and my son? when my husband left us on this earth alone,” Imani said. “Today I felt sad, as I missed my husband, but at the same time I count myself blessed and thank the leaders for not forgetting me and for giving me a gift by which I can look after my son and look after my family needs. I am truly encouraged by your love.”

For those who find the Christmas season challenging—and born-again believers can also fall into that group—sometimes all it takes is a thoughtful word, card or gift that reminds them they are not forgotten. It can remind them once again that this holiday season is truly one of “great joy.” The Lord Jesus wants everyone to experience that.

Gospel for Asia-supported workers give out all sorts of Christmas gifts from barnyard animals to sewing machines to rickshaws to mosquito nets that help get people out of poverty or improve their quality of life.

Last year, more than 600,000 people all across Asia got to taste the “good news of great joy” after receiving Christmas gifts from GFA-supported workers. Many of those people may have been living in grief and heartache; many may have been wondering how they would make it through another day. Yet, at just the right time, God showed them they were not forgotten and that they, too, could have joyful lives.


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