Submission and Eternal Fruit
Today, Malati serves in three surrounding churches. She leads
the children's Sunday school and Women's Fellowship. She also helps lead
prayer meetings in believers' homes and often travels with a few other
women to nearby villages to share the love of Christ.
Malati's missionary journey, however, hasn't been without pain.
As a widow, she faces difficulties among those with whom she shares the
love of Jesus. To bring down the barriers that hinder the message of
hope she shares, Malati doesn't always explain she is a widow.
"I know it is very difficult being a widow and being a woman,"
she says. "Whenever I find that people are not genuine, . . . and they
are going to treat me in a different way, . . . I did not disclose
myself as a widow, knowing that they would reject me."
It also causes her much heartache when she is scolded for not
remarrying. People will tell her, "You are still young and you have
children, . . . so now why do you continue your journey like this? It is
better that you get married and have a husband."
But as a faithful daughter of the King, Malati doesn't let
other people's remarks or criticism keep her from serving Him. The love
of Jesus propels her to continue. It is her one constant source of
strength, and she keeps reaching out to the sick and stretching out her
hand to the needy.
Whenever she faces discouragement, she kneels on the floor,
tears streaming down her cheeks, asking God to help her bear the
stinging remarks of others who don't understand the Lord's calling on
her life. Being a widow, a mother and a missionary doesn't come without
pain. But she clings to her husband's last commission and the promises
in God's Word, and she is able to continue.