Life: India and the Dalit's

You may have read a recent blog post about the Dalits, who are the lowest in Indian’s caste system. I seem to not be able to get these people off my heart or mind.  I picked up a book the other day to read called “No longer a Slumdog” by K.P Yohannon, which I knew was about India but didn’t realise it was specifically about the Dalits.

This book was a very interesting read, because not only does it inform but it also included stories from the Dalits.  These stories from the suffering Children of Asia showed the anguish they live with but also sees them rejoice in their triumphs.

“No longer a Slumdog” is also about an organisation called Gospel of Asia who have sent up Bridge of Hope Centres in India which is their way of reaching out to the Indian children and offering them Hope.

GFA Bridge of Hope is an outreach which educates children, reaching out to them especially to the lower castes and the Dalits (The Untouchables).  The centre offers the children a chance to receive an education, a warm notorious meal each school day, textbooks and uniforms, a yearly medical check-up as well as a chance to hear about Jesus and how He loves them.

Children have been transformed through these centres, however through them adults have also been transformed - in fact whole communities have been transformed by the children who are attending these centres.

A story is told about a man who came to one of the centres asking if the ‘medical doctor names Jesus” would come and help his sick wife.  This man’s son Nilbun attended one of the Bridge of hopes centres and had been listening intently to his teachers when they spoke about this man Jesus who healed the sick, cast out demons an fed the hungry.

When his mother became sick and his father was desperate for a cure, Nilbun told his father about the amazing things that this man Jesus has done.  Nilbun’s father thought there was an actual medical doctor named Jesus who worked at the centre.  How sweet is that? And how great it is that his son was listening to these stories and realised how wonderful Jesus was.

As there was no actual ‘medical doctor’ called Jesus’ two missionaries went with Nilbun’s father to help, they prayed for his wife and that God would heal her.  And the Lord, he did just that he healed Nilbun’s mother.  This great news about this miracle spread all over the village and from this not only did Nilbun’s family become Christians but so did many others in their village.  Before this no one was interested in Jesus but seeing the work that prayer in the name of Jesus did changed their minds.

Through one child nearly a whole village had hope and faith in Jesus.  To me this is amazing, through Gospel for Asia and their Bridges of Hope Centre they not only reached out to children and their physical needs, health needs, spiritual needs, they also provided hope for the families and the communities the children came from.  To this day they are still working in India among the Dalit's and others.