Veil of Tears DVD-Review

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”I remember being in 7th grade at Memorial Junior High School in Beverly, Massachusetts. I was lucky enough to get Mr. Plummer for World History.  He is in my top 5 list of best teachers I had from Kindergarten through college. He taught with passion and through experiences. One of the topics we learned a lot about in his class was the caste system in India. We learned about the Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra and the Dahlit or untouchables. In the caste system there is no hope of upward mobility-whatever caste you were born into is where you remained for your entire life. You can’t work your way up or even marry your way up. I remember, as an idealistic 7th grader, feeling this was a very unjust system and when we were all randomly assigned a caste to be a part of for 2 days of classes, I was a Dahlit. For a Thursday and Friday I along with my other Dahlits sat on the floor in the hallway outside of Mr. Plummer’s classroom, without talking. The other castes were inside some lounging on comfy chairs watching a movie in the corner while others sat at tables reading about and discussing the Indian culture while yet others were sitting on the floor doing Indian crafts like many unskilled laborers do, to sell to tourists. It was a humbling lesson and one I carry with me 30+ years later.

As my husband and I watched “Veil of Tears” the lessons from Mr. Plummer’s classroom came flooding back to me. Being an untouchable is a horrible thing. “Veil of Tears” is a documentary that tells the story of millions of women who are culturally oppressed in India-because they are women. Even though India is the largest democratic nation in the world and the caste system has been outlawed since 1950-little to nothing has changed culturally. As my pastor recently said, “You can’t legislate morality.” Thousands of years of oppression cannot be changed by the stroke of the pen-and it won’t change until the hearts of the people are changed. The caste system in India is still alive and well, culturally, across India. In it all, the women are the lowest of the low. The stories of the rampant genocide of infant girls, suicides by women who give birth to girls and the families who cannot care for their daughters-so the sell them into the sex trades are heartbreaking.

The movie brings into focus the truth behind a dark reality existing in the world today, it also highlights the hope being given to countless millions of women each day through the work and ministry of Gospel For Asia.

With the ever-expanding population of people in Asia, the need for aid, education and Jesus’ love is growing day by day. Gospel for Asia is involved in sharing the love of Christ through national missionaries. These men and women missionaries are trained in Bible colleges to share the hope found in Christ. After training, they go to the unreached people of South Asia and share the love of God in the nations they serve. We also minister to children through our Bridge of Hope program, providing education, quality meals and a loving environment to over 72,000 children in South Asia.

 

You, your church and/or small group need to watch this film and have your heartbroken for these forgotten women. I know it can be overwhelming to see what needs to be done to reach this world for Jesus and maybe God isn’t calling you to do anything more than to pray for these women, but He might be calling someone you know, someone you can reach by sharing this movie with them. Right now you can get  “Veil of Tears” for only $8.00! I think it is an important film for your middle and high schoolers to see too. We all need to know and see that this world is much bigger than our little lives and we need to let God break out hearts for what breaks His. Churches can get a special movie night pack for free. This pack includes the film, a countdown timer, movie posters and conversation cards.

This powerful film touched my heart and I’m sure it will touch yours too. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to have my eyes opened to the plight of women in India and the great work that Gospel for Asia is doing there.