Living the Legacy in India

Emma Cantor, a regional missionary for United Methodist Women, has accompanied the women of the Methodist Church in India for years, offering encouragement and leading workshops aimed at empowering the women.“Deaconesses are a neglected tradition in the Indian church. In many ways the church was founded by deaconesses, yet its leaders say they can’t find the money to pay their salaries today. That’s due in part to their work— they’re the ones who work with children— not being seen as important,” Cantor said. “I can’t help but wonder what Isabella Thoburn would think of that. She saw nothing as more important than values formation among children and youth.” As the ecclesial landscape and the country’s politics shift around them, some deaconesses have started working in different settings.Malathi Jamesraj coordinates a program that teaches sewing and tailoring to poor women in Chennai.“Many men are drunkards and don’t give money to their families. It’s hard for the woman to run the family with no source of income. So if a woman can make dresses for her neighbors, she can support her family and make decisions about her own life. And she gets new respect. If the men need money, they have to come to the women to ask for it,” she said.Uma Natarajan is the Methodist pastor in a poor neighborhood of Chennai where Jamesraj has coordinated tailoring classes that meet in her church. She appreciates Jamesraj’s work. “I wish more could come out of their own places and serve like Malathi does in our community,” she said.“That’s the church meeting the people where they are.”- - -This episode originally appeared in the March/April 2020 issue of response, the award winning magazine from United Methodist Women.Visit www.UnitedMethodistWomen.org to find out more.