Subbamma had always been a woman who prayed. After nearly 40 years of praying to Hindu gods, she found the Living God. The first article titled ‘The Untouchables, part 1’ talks about her miraculous healing and conversion to Christ. This one will cover a bit of her life as a Christian.
Her husband also believed in this God who healed his wife. Because untouchables cannot get real jobs in India, he moved to Thailand and opened a restaurant there. The restaurant did very well, until they had to close it and flee because of fighting in that region.
They returned to India, but their home community wasn’t happy that they embraced this different religion, Christianity. Their home was burned down, more than once.
With no income and no possibility of decent work, Subbamma cried out to God to show her His Glory. God gifted her with the vision and talent of making beautiful things in lace.
She found Mr. Whitehouse, the British Missionary, and showed him her work. She inquired if perhaps he could see if people in Britain might want to order the work of her hands. As an untouchable, no one in India would purchase from her.
Mr. Whitehouse took the samples to England and returned with THOUSANDS of orders! Isn’t that like our Lord! He blesses us beyond what we can ask or think.
She couldn’t fill the orders alone, and ended up hiring the entire community. Subbamma then taught herself to read, bought a little hut, and opened the very first mud-floor school for Untouchables. This is the same woman that was going to commit suicide at age 39. God had other plans and she lived to be 98. She impacted a whole community for good, and for God.
Subbamma
Today Subbamma is with the Lord, but her works live on. In the next article, I’ll be sharing with you about what God is doing in this community today. If you want to take a peek, check out hope-for-people.org.