At the age of 12, an older man convinced Kumari to secretly elope with him, and he took her from her Nepali village to India where she lived for seven years. When this man eloped with Kumari, he left his first wife and two children in Nepal.
After Kumari’s first two children died, her husband took another wife, though they all lived in the same household. He was also prone to excessive drinking and abuse. Both Kumari and the new wife each had a child, but then their husband left them both and went to Kathmandu and had no further contact with either woman or his children. (There, over the years, he proceeded to take two additional wives and have more children.)
Abandoned with a young child, Kumari made her way to Kathmandu as well and began struggling to provide for them. She worked for years in a carpet factory and in house construction, carrying bricks and other difficult manual labor. She suffered from a lot of physical pain and sickness in these years.
Kumari started attending church with some Christian neighbors and over time, she gradually came to understand and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The love and friendship she received from women in her church, their visits to her room and continual teaching, and her own experience of emotional and physical healing led her into a personal relationship with Christ and brought peace where there was previously much pain.
For a long time Kumari prayed for a better job and then, through women at her church, she learned about one of ServLife’s partners, a fair trade company that employs single mothers and widows with children. Her prayers were answered. She has been employed by our partner for five years now, and says that through this job, she has been physically and financially blessed. For the first time in her life she has a good, comfortable job that has provided enough to meet her financial needs and cover school fees for her son, who is now 18. He is studying management in college while also working at a local restaurant and he often teaches younger children in their church programs.
The products in the ServLife store are made by Kumari and other talented artisans in the regions where ServLife works. Through the ServLife Store, you can purchase these products and directly support Kumari and others like her that are working to escape extreme poverty and trafficking. Visit the ServLife Store and engage in an act of justice today!